Donald Trump Sets Conditions for Defending NATO Allies Against Attack
Donald Trump Sets Conditions for Defending NATO Allies Against Attack
By DAVID E. SANGER and MAGGIE HABERMANJULY 20, 2016
CLEVELAND — Donald J. Trump, on the eve of accepting the Republican nomination for president, explicitly raised new questions on Wednesday about his commitment to automatically defending NATO allies if they are attacked, saying he would first look at their contributions to the alliance.
Asked about Russia’s threatening activities, which have unnerved the small Baltic States that are among the more recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing if those nations have “fulfilled their obligations to us.”
“If they fulfill their obligations to us,” he added, “the answer is yes.”
Mr. Trump’s statement appeared to be the first time that a major candidate for president had suggested conditioning the United States’ defense of its major allies. It was consistent, however, with his previous threat to withdraw American forces from Europe and Asia if those allies fail to pay more for American protection.
Mr. Trump also said he would not pressure Turkey or other authoritarian allies about conducting purges of their political adversaries or cracking down on civil liberties. The United States, he said, has to “fix our own mess” before trying to alter the behavior of other nations.
“I don’t think we have a right to lecture,” Mr. Trump said in a wide-ranging interview in his suite in a downtown hotel here, while keeping an eye on television broadcasts from the Republican National Convention. “Look at what is happening in our country,” he said. “How are we going to lecture when people are shooting policemen in cold blood?” (Read the full transcript.)
During a 45-minute conversation, Mr. Trump re-emphasized the hard-line nationalist approach that has marked his improbable candidacy, describing how he would force allies to shoulder defense costs that the United States has borne for decades, cancel longstanding treaties he views as unfavorable, and redefine what it means to be a partner of the United States.
READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/polit...
By DAVID E. SANGER and MAGGIE HABERMANJULY 20, 2016
CLEVELAND — Donald J. Trump, on the eve of accepting the Republican nomination for president, explicitly raised new questions on Wednesday about his commitment to automatically defending NATO allies if they are attacked, saying he would first look at their contributions to the alliance.
Asked about Russia’s threatening activities, which have unnerved the small Baltic States that are among the more recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing if those nations have “fulfilled their obligations to us.”
“If they fulfill their obligations to us,” he added, “the answer is yes.”
Mr. Trump’s statement appeared to be the first time that a major candidate for president had suggested conditioning the United States’ defense of its major allies. It was consistent, however, with his previous threat to withdraw American forces from Europe and Asia if those allies fail to pay more for American protection.
Mr. Trump also said he would not pressure Turkey or other authoritarian allies about conducting purges of their political adversaries or cracking down on civil liberties. The United States, he said, has to “fix our own mess” before trying to alter the behavior of other nations.
“I don’t think we have a right to lecture,” Mr. Trump said in a wide-ranging interview in his suite in a downtown hotel here, while keeping an eye on television broadcasts from the Republican National Convention. “Look at what is happening in our country,” he said. “How are we going to lecture when people are shooting policemen in cold blood?” (Read the full transcript.)
During a 45-minute conversation, Mr. Trump re-emphasized the hard-line nationalist approach that has marked his improbable candidacy, describing how he would force allies to shoulder defense costs that the United States has borne for decades, cancel longstanding treaties he views as unfavorable, and redefine what it means to be a partner of the United States.
READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/polit...
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...The Big payoff? Pay me or your on your own!
Every One In This Country Is An Immigrant with the exception of One Group...and even they were imported to the region as well - they migrated from Africa just like everybody else!
The stupidest statement ever...Leaving NATO! What in the world is this idiotic lunatic (Baal) telling the American People and World Allies?
No One Can Do A Damned Thing By Themselves!
Point:
Can you make your own shoes, shirts, pants, socks, automobiles (& parts), lamps, houses, suits, etc.? Some would say yes...but I'm speaking of the individual who has to go out and buy (or trade for) the things that are needed for survival. The average person cannot - skilled individuals have to rely on someone else for the making or shaping of the raw materials, yes? Let's take food for another example...who cooks for you? Who raises the livestock for your meat consumption? Who grows the wheat for your plate of Grits in the morning - your morning cereal - the rice for your dinner...? Who drives the bus in order to get you to work every day? Who drives the train? How does gas and electricity arrive to your house 24/7?
Get the point?
No One Can Do A Damn Thing On This Planet By Themselves! ...Period! We All Need Each Other In Order To Survive On This Earth!
Pulling out of NATO is More Then Stupid - It's Suicide!
One Word Brother Deacon - LUNACY!
Thanks for this posting...
"G"
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