Red
Well-Known Member
Well, from my perspective, that seems like something a small man would do, not a strong man.
That said, I think what stood out more to me, and many commentators, was the ignorance he displayed regarding how NATO works, in his 8+ minute speech at the 9/11 dedication ceremony, an ignorance as summarized here:
"In Brussels, Trump charged that "many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years" and implied that these countries owed that money to the United States.
"This idea that countries owe money is flat-out wrong," said Rathke. Countries commit to the 2% target for defense spending -- a goal only five NATO members currently meet -- within their own countries. The money is not paid to a central fund, though Trump continues to allude to a system like that, raising questions about his ability or willingness to listen and learn.
"Anybody with NATO expertise knows that there is no such thing as 'debts' owed by NATO allies for what they haven't spent in the past," Rathke said.
From this analysis:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/25/politics/trump-nato-lecture/
Now, that portion of his speech begins at about the 4:40 mark. I could not help but notice as he went on speaking as if NATO operated out of a general fund, several NATO leaders can be seen smiling and whispering among themselves. I can use my imagination at this point to speculate they are doing so because they are actually laughing at his misunderstanding at how NATO works. He actually thinks the 2% of GDP member states are asked to raise is paid into a general fund! Look, it's no secret I personally am no fan of Trump, but I think many would concluded he is making a fool of himself at that point.
The full speech, delivered at the 9/11 dedication ceremony:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zJcFYIL_OxE
