Trump’s Criticism of NATO Doesn’t Go Far Enough
President Donald Trump’s critical remarks about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have been used by his enemies as an example of how out-of-touch he is with the rest of the world. Ignored by his critics is the salient fact that President Trump’s remarks are all true. In fact, rather than going too far, they don’t go far enough.
During the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11, President Trump called out European leaders for not carrying their fair share of the defense budget for NATO, saying that nations such as Germany need to “step it up” in regard to meeting their obligation to spend two percent of their GDP on NATO funding. “These countries have to step it up — not over a 10 year period, they have to step it up immediately,” Trump said, adding, “We’re protecting Germany, France and everybody…. This has been going on for decades. We can’t put up with it and it’s inappropriate.” Going further, he suggested that the goal of two percent — which only five member states are meeting — is insufficient, saying it really should be four percent.
Much to the chagrin of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the president singled out Germany as an example. “Germany is a captive of Russia because it is getting so much of its energy from Russia,” he said, adding, “Everybody’s talking about it all over the world, they’re saying we’re paying billions of dollars to protect you but you’re paying billions of dollars to Russia.” If that weren’t pointed enough, President Trump also told Merkel’s Germany, “We’re supposed to protect you against Russia and yet you make this deal with Russia. Explain that. It can’t be explained.”
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