Donald Trump is magic. You have to give him that.
He can drive his enemies insane, inspire enormous (and irrational) loyalty in his fans, and scare the pants off of people who need his approval. He is not a politician; he is a force of Nature.
While American pundits and politicians have been driven insane once again by Trump’s bluster about letting NATO countries hang out to dry if they don’t shape up and fulfill their treaty obligations to contribute to the common defense, the NATO countries themselves took his threats to heart and have been scrambling to–finally–fulfill promises they made decades ago.
🔴 Nato countries scramble to meet 2 per cent spending target to avoid Donald Trump’s wrath https://t.co/hBti3tzLhA
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 17, 2024
To call Trump a bull in a china shop is unfair to the delicacy of bulls. When a bull traipses through the shop, the damage he causes is incidental; Trump intends to break things and force people to clean and fix them up. He knows what to break and what the remodel should look like.
Trump said today during a campaign rally he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that didn’t meet spending guidelines pic.twitter.com/azwR3IzeFE
— Kate Sullivan (@KateSullivanDC) February 10, 2024
As often as not, he succeeds in getting things fixed and a gold-plated toilet installed.
That, apparently, is happening with NATO defense spending. Trump tells them to spend more or else, and they are going to spend more lest “else” happen.
Nato members are scrambling to honour their defence spending target in time for a crunch July summit taking place just days before Donald Trump’s expected coronation as Republican candidate for president.
Westminster sources told The Telegraph that European members need to arrive at Nato’s 75th Anniversary summit in Washington DC with a commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence.
The summit will take place 9-11 July, the week before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Mr Trump is expected to be selected as the party’s nominee for president.
A senior Whitehall security source said: “If we all rock up in Washington for the Nato summit with half of Europe still not paying 2 per cent of GDP… that would be an own goal.”
Nigel Farage, a confidante of Mr Trump, said he believed he would not try to withdraw the US from Nato if re-elected, but that Britain and other members had to bolster their militaries to ensure “America’s commitment”.
Having grown up in the ’60s and ’70s, NATO has been a big part of my worldview literally forever, and in principle, I think it is a great alliance. The United States is more powerful by being first among “equals” in the alliance, and I still get the warm and fuzzies thinking about the fall of the Soviet Union.
But let’s face it: NATO countries have been taking us for a ride, and Trump was and is 100% right about that. For decades, they have promised to spend more on defense, and for decades, they have been shrinking their militaries and daring the US to do something about it. Every president since George Bush Sr. has urged NATO to live up to its treaty obligations, and no president but Trump has actually spurred them to do anything about breaking their promises.
Watching the Establishment freak out about Trump’s bull in the China shop act was amusing to me because they acted like it was Trump who was betraying our allies. The truth is that our allies have been lying to us and betraying the alliance for decades. I don’t hate them for it–after all, if the US is willing to do all the work, why not let us do it and pay for it?
Ironically, if Trump were Germany, he would probably want to free-ride off the US and call it a good deal. Trump knows how to make a buck and save a buck. But just because what Europeans have been doing is rational doesn’t mean that the US should be happy to be the chump.
Trump, as a negotiator, knows how to get a good deal, and with a 30-second riff at a rally, he got European countries to commit tens of billions of dollars to our common defense. That was a good investment of time, I would say.
The Telegraph can reveal that a concerted effort is underway in London and across other Nato capitals to “Trump-proof” the alliance.
One diplomat said: “There is a lot of talk about Trump contingency planning… on how to make sure a US president is invested in the security of the transatlantic area.”
In the UK, the Whitehall security source said the Nato July summit was seen as a key date because it was taking place “a week before the Republican National Convention” when “big, febrile politics” would be at play.
The source said the UK was pursuing “two lines of activity” in response to the potential return of Mr Trump. The first track involved “diplomacy around everybody in Nato other than the US, to say ‘hey guys, we really need to turn up to Washington with our s–t together’.”
This is, 100%, a good thing–and every never-Trumper should agree that it is. After all, Trump’s demand is no different from what every president has said and what Europeans have promised since the end of the Cold War.
The neocons who would have been over the moon if the Europeans had made this move in response to George W. Bush or Barack Obama, criticize Trump for being too mean and reckless with our allies.
But it worked. It is the only thing that HAS worked to get European countries to wake up and take even a modicum of responsibility. These countries look down their noses at the US, but none of them aside from Britain, perhaps, could defend itself for a week without the US saving their butts.
Another senior government source agreed that getting all Nato states to commit to 2 per cent was critical. “Everyone needs to have two in front of their figure,” the source said.
Mr Farage told The Telegraph that Mr Trump’s recent comments were part of an ongoing negotiation with Europe to drive up defence spending.
“Read The Art of the Deal,” Mr Farage said. “Ask for the Earth, threaten the person you’re doing a deal with and accept a compromise.”
The former UKIP leader said he did not think Mr Trump would withdraw from Nato. “There is clearly within America now a debate within the Republican movement – and within parts of the Democrat movement – that does have shades of ‘why the hell should we be relied upon the whole time?’
Ironically, if NATO countries had listened to Trump during his presidency, they wouldn’t be talking about having to fight a war against Russia in the next few years–and they all are doing so now and worried they don’t have the military chops to defend themselves. Because they don’t have the military chops to defend themselves.
Europe, without the United States, has no power to deter Russia. It should, since the US has responsibilities around the world (Taiwan, anyone?) and can only commit so much to Europe’s defense. Even if we were willing to send our soldiers to die for countries that can’t bother to prepare to defend themselves, and many Americans are not.
Mutual defense treaties should be mutual. NATO really isn’t right now, and it has to return to what it once was or disband.
With Trump’s possible return, NATO countries have gotten the message, and hopefully it will be in time. European countries being dominated by Russia would not be in our interests, but being Europe’s sole defender isn’t either.
Trump understands that, and the European countries have gotten the message.
Loud and clear.
