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Trump at NATO: “Germany Is a Captive of Russia”
President Donald Trump, in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, blasted Germany for making a pipeline deal with Russia for energy, saying, “we’re going to have to do something because we’re not going to put up with it. We can’t put up with it. And it’s inappropriate. So, we have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that being paid to the country that we’re supposed to be protecting you against.”
Published in General
Moderator Note:
Everyone please avoid using the first comment just to make a dig. This isn't a good look for Ricochet.Like an underworld bass.Yeah, nobody wants to listen to a tenor.
Nice to see you’re on topic. And congrats on being my first comment! Again!
So they are crediting Trump for their proposed spending increase.
Does narcissistic virtue signalling like the Senate’s stupidity yesterday make it more or less likely that those and other increases will go through?
When playing good cop-bad cop, the good cop has to be the one at the negotiation table. The guys back at home have to play the bad cop, even if it makes them feel yucky.
Imagine how well Trump could have done if he walked into NATO meetings and was able to say that he was fighting off Senate attempts to force withdrawal of our troops from Europe!
Easy now. This is buck-up Mitch week…and he wrote a really good autobiography.
One other dynamic to look at, is that Bush needed NATO desperately because of the wars. Obama needed them for his narcissistic rewards.
Trump doesn’t have those needs. And the EU is playing all kinds of games.
I actually think he’s punishing them ( quite rightly) and it’s fun to see them squirm like girly-men and girls.
It is so refreshing for a businessman, rather than a politician, to speak so candidly about the world.
No, he meant the fish . . .
Michael Corelone: “My answer is this: ‘Nothing.’”
You’re identifying with Michael? I had you pegged as more the Senator Geary type. Contempt for “lawlessness” but oh so polite to the wife.
Much more Michael than Senator Geary.
Senator Geary reminds me later in the film of my fellow Republicans toadying up to Trump.
Hmmm…if memory serves me correctly, Senator Geary “todyed up” because the Corleones set him up via a dead, underage hooker. Are you saying your fellow Republicans got caught in a similar situation?
Denny Hastert Republicans?
Seriously, the deep state probably has dirt in all of them. Now that we have gotten a glimpse into what they’ve been doing with Trump, I’d say we have rogue intelligence agencies in collusion with political operatives running our country. Things make much more sense now.
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/russia-germany-gerhard-schroeder-putin-chief-european-lobbyist/
Franco,
Nice Godfather II reference but here is something from Rich Lowry that is just stellar.
Don’t Cry for Angela Merkel
Don’t cry for Angela indeed!!
Regards,
Jim
No. The analogy does not go that far…
We still have the wars. Just came from one in fact.
The latest readiness reports out of Germany are terribly troubling.
President Trump isn’t tearing down NATO – Some member countries are doing that themselves.
Don’t get me started on how Erdogan uses NATO to provide strategic depth while he pursues a real relationship with Putin.
Franco,
They are having quite a morning at NRO. Here’s another one right on the money from Jim Geraghty.
Worried about Russia? Then Keep an Eye on Germany’s Former Chancellor
Yep, the MSM so understands international relations and are really on top of threats to US or European or World security. Actually, they really are a gang of worthless left-wing toadies who have no idea what a strategic position is except for next to the wine bar at a White House reception.
Regards,
Jim
I hate to interrupt, but let’s please keep it on topic and not let the tension rise in here.
The Germans sanctimoniously went big on renewable energy which, ah, unexpectedly caused problems in their ability to generate enough electricity. So what if buying gas from Russia means Putin has them by the short and curlies?
To make matters worse, Trump was gauche enough to point out that a former Chancellor of Germany runs the pipeline company that’s supplying the gas to Germany.
“To make matters worse, Trump was gauche enough to point out that a former Chancellor of Germany runs the pipeline company that’s supplying the gas to Germany.”
I wonder how many Germans knew about that. It looks to me like they are even more propagandized than we are.
Point well taken. I have posted “Has Trump been compromised by Putin and Russia?” where I note two articles that explore that premise.
The NATO Secretary is talking double-speak, repeating the old lines. Trump is right, and he wastes no time getting to the point. He’s not there for the food and the scenery. How they forget the way Russia ‘turned off the gas’ in the winter into The Ukraine, as political manipulation – while they froze. It is a very bold statement, since he will be meeting with Putin. He is right – they all want protection, Russia has movement in the water, on land, everyone’s nervous. The Secretary said they are getting it – and America showing strength is having an impact on Africa and other areas of the world where there are problems. So who has an issue with what was said? He speaks the truth and if it makes people squirm, then so what/
By the way, this is printed April 2018:
https://www.dw.com/en/nato-and-washington-worry-about-russian-subs-in-the-high-north/a-43533440
Like a leader. Germany in particular and NATO as a group has been taking advanage of us since at least the late 50’s. Slackers.
And Germany is pushing for a Baltic pipeline to make them even more dependent on Russian gas. Trump should push them to build LNG ports to get gas from US. Or do we just keep defending the Germans while they get to play virtue signaling?
Am I wrong to absolutely adore Trump in this video? I have watched it 5 times and have a huge grin on my face.
The krauts should go back to nuclear – it is the greenest of all.
Just remember, fusion is the energy of the future and it always will be.