President Donald Trump had a morning meltdown on Monday in which he once again attacked our NATO allies by demanding they pay us for military protection while whining about trade.
Trump has been attacking our NATO allies for two years now by falsely claiming that the United States is paying for their protection and that it’s unfair because of our trade deficit with Europe.
When he first landed in France for the anniversary of the end of World War I, which he botched, Trump began the trip by attacking French President Emmanuel Macron and our other NATO allies. Now he is marking the end of his trip by attacking our NATO allies again.
Just returned from France where much was accomplished in my meetings with World Leaders. Never easy bringing up the fact that the U.S. must be treated fairly, which it hasn’t, on both Military and Trade. We pay for LARGE portions of other countries military protection,……..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
…..hundreds of billions of dollars, for the great privilege of losing hundreds of billions of dollars with these same countries on trade. I told them that this situation cannot continue – It is, and always has been, ridiculously unfair to the United States. Massive amounts…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
…..of money spent on protecting other countries, and we get nothing but Trade Deficits and Losses. It is time that these very rich countries either pay the United States for its great military protection, or protect themselves…and Trade must be made FREE and FAIR!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
Except that not how NATO works and it’s not how trade works, and Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he knows nothing about either.
First of all, NATO nations are required to pay at least 2 percent of their national GDP on defense by 2024, which is still six years away. Furthermore, Trump is apparently confused because he is conflating direct and indirect spending. With direct spending, the United States contributes 22 percent of the NATO budget, which is a drop in the bucket compared to our military spending. Currently, the United States spends $800 billion on defense, and that figure represents 67 percent of defense spending among all the NATO members combined.
That appears to be what Trump is complaining about. He seems to think that it’s unfair for the United States to be paying so much on our own defense, even though he is the one who sought an increase in defense spending.
NATO is not some protection racket where nations pay us for military protection. It’s a mutual defense alliance that each member pays their fair share into and that is 2 percent of GDP. It’s not our allies’ fault that we pay 4 percent of our GDP on defense spending.
In addition, by dangling such demands, Trump is trying to extort our allies into agreeing to his trade deal policies even though the military spending and trade deals are not related to each other.
The reason why the United States has a trade deficit with Europe is that the United States buys more goods from Europe than Europe buys from the United States. And it’s really not that massive of a deficit, clocking in at just $92 billion.
In short, the trade deficit is not “unfair,” it just means we buy more goods made overseas, something Trump would know all about since he often imports materials and goods from overseas to build and stock his hotels.
Holding our allies hostage with threats against their own security just to get a favorable trade deal will only weaken our own national security and alliances in the long run, all while making Russian dictator Vladimir Putin smile because he dreams about NATO being disbanded.
Trump’s threats need to stop. They are based on his ignorance about defense spending and trade, and America only stands to lose because of it.
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