US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on his willingness to defend Washington’s Nato allies, saying that he would not do so if they are not paying enough for their own defense.
“It’s common sense, right,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them.”
Trump said he had been of this view for years and shared it with Nato allies during his 2017-2021 presidential term. Those efforts prompted more spending from other members of the 75-year-old transatlantic alliance, he said, but that “even now, it’s not enough.”
He added: “They should be paying more.”
Isn’t this the kind of thing the Mafia and gangs do to local businesses? Pay up for “protection”?
Yes, thats the group he identifies with the most
Musk waiting for the horse head to show up in his bed.
No. Trump won’t attack in case of lack of funding, and he doesn’t demand money for himself.
Actually this is his only adequate stand.
So how much do you think countries should be paying? As far as defence spending compared to national GDP, Finland and the Baltic states are 2-3%, Poland is almost 4% - which is actually more than the USA.
Do you expect me to say some concrete number like 2.78%? I can’t.
But this number should be sufficient to equip a fight-ready army. European armies are pathetic except for Turkey, France, Poland and… that’s it. No, 200 tanks aren’t enough. 50k infantry isn’t an army. Russians lose that amount in a month.
I can’t give you an easy trump-tier answer. But European armies should become mature. Maybe GDP percentage is just a bad measurement tool.
So you want countries to bankrupt themselves? A small country just isn’t capable of buying or building 200 tanks unless you want them welding sheet metal to tractors and calling it a tank.
GDP percentage may not be perfect but it seems pretty reasonable that 5M people shouldn’t have to contribute as much between them as 300M people.
No. Common sense should be used. At this point European countries’ armies are below any level of usability.
Just look at Germany, for example. It is a big country. Big in territory, in populace and economics. With less of 100K of actual soldiers and tanks they count in dozens.
I expect countries to spend a reasonable amount of resources to raise an adequate army according to their abilities.
I expect countries to spend a reasonable amount of resources to raise an adequate army according to their abilities.
So a percentage of their GDP?
Do you expect me to say some concrete number like 2.78%? I can’t.
But this number should be sufficient to equip a fight-ready army. European armies are pathetic except for Turkey, France, Poland and… that’s it. No, 200 tanks aren’t enough. 50k infantry isn’t an army. Russians lose that amount in a month.
I can’t give you an easy trump-tier answer. But European armies should become mature. Maybe GDP percentage is just a bad measurement tool.
Actually he is doing a:
“Give money, or I let the guy with the gun shoot you”
It’s the same scheme he uses to pressure Zelensky/Ukraine.
(The NATO agreement was “attempt for 2%” and no way to enforce it if it didn’t work out, so Trump’s whole “or else” point is a form of blackmail outside of the written agreements)
Doesn’t detract from your other point, the European armies do need a boost, have needed one for a while now. And as a combined bloc the EU should muster up a permanent standing (modern) army.
They should also buy/manufacture their own equipment to be less dependable on the whims of the US and keep their defense funds within the EU. But I’ll bet this is something Trump does not want to happen, perhaps he’ll start shouting the EU should pay HIM 5% and not NATO…
Ad a sidenote, the EU should now be seen as one financial entity and count the % to that, not individual countries.
Almost like he’s been talking about this for like 2-3 years, and made it a significant point in his campaign. And fuckers still voted for him.
The only thing the U.S. has to show for its massive national debt is its military. Since other countries don’t even want the U.S. to be world police that money should be spent on healthcare and light rail instead.
I’d genuinely feel safer if we kicked the US out of NATO at this point
