45th President of the United States, Donald Trump. (Vol 4)

[Eric Mc]

Bill said:

Eric Mc said:

Upset his friends - that's his main modus operandi.

To be accurate, his friends are very happy.

Sadly, yes.

[Eric Mc]

PAULJ5555 said:

Probably want to pay less or force the others to paying their equal share, loads of countries are not paying fully including Germany, Italy & France are not meeting their obligations who are some of the biggest economies.

I think its not just trump but even over here people are getting fed up paying for the rest of the world when problems at home are not getting fixed. Seems to be a new trend.

This complaint is not new to Trump. The difference is what Trump is doing about it - which could be catastrophic.

[Countdown]

PAULJ5555 said:

Countdown said:

PAULJ5555 said:

Just the NATO ones that he is subsidising, looks like hes going to put his foot down on this one.

What’s he going to do?

Probably want to pay less or force the others to paying their equal share, loads of countries are not paying fully including Germany, Italy & France are not meeting their obligations who are some of the biggest economies.

I think its not just trump but even over here people are getting fed up paying for the rest of the world when problems at home are not getting fixed. Seems to be a new trend.

How is he going to “force” others to pay their “equal share” ? That’s the thing; Trump is a blowhard who says HE’S going to do THIS and THAT when in reality he has neither the power to do so nor the diplomatic skill to get others on-side.

And “meeting their obligations” is a phrase that is laughable. It’s often used by the US to accuse other nations (such as Iran) when suggesting they have certain “obligations” to the rest of the World (they don’t) but on the other hand the US is quite happy to walk away from any agreements that it has signed whilst sticking up two metaphorical fingers at everybody else.

Nobody does hypocrisy as well as the US, especially since Trump was elected.

[Countdown]

Eric Mc said:

Bill said:

Eric Mc said:

Upset his friends - that's his main modus operandi.

To be accurate, his friends are very happy.

Sadly, yes.

I don’t believe there was any deliberate collusion but, given how many things Trump has fked up since he came to power, I’m sure Putin is incredibly happy.

[PAULJ5555]

Countdown said:

PAULJ5555 said:

Countdown said:

PAULJ5555 said:

Just the NATO ones that he is subsidising, looks like hes going to put his foot down on this one.

What’s he going to do?

Probably want to pay less or force the others to paying their equal share, loads of countries are not paying fully including Germany, Italy & France are not meeting their obligations who are some of the biggest economies.

I think its not just trump but even over here people are getting fed up paying for the rest of the world when problems at home are not getting fixed. Seems to be a new trend.

How is he going to “force” others to pay their “equal share” ? That’s the thing; Trump is a blowhard who says HE’S going to do THIS and THAT when in reality he has neither the power to do so nor the diplomatic skill to get others on-side.

And “meeting their obligations” is a phrase that is laughable. It’s often used by the US to accuse other nations (such as Iran) when suggesting they have certain “obligations” to the rest of the World (they don’t) but on the other hand the US is quite happy to walk away from any agreements that it has signed whilst sticking up two metaphorical fingers at everybody else.

Nobody does hypocrisy as well as the US, especially since Trump was elected.

But he has done things that he said he was going to do

You asked about NATO, are all the other countries meeting their obligations financially? or is this made up?

Edited by PAULJ5555 on Wednesday 11th July 09:50

[PAULJ5555]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Not trolling, just being fair to both sides, If I'm wrong or mistaken about any facts please let me know.

Was I wrong about Obama?

[Gameface]

4 pages away from the rest of them returning

[Tartan Pixie]

PAULJ5555 said:

Probably want to pay less or force the others to paying their equal share, loads of countries are not paying fully including Germany, Italy & France are not meeting their obligations who are some of the biggest economies.

I think its not just trump but even over here people are getting fed up paying for the rest of the world when problems at home are not getting fixed. Seems to be a new trend.

Financially Americans are paying for sweet FA regarding world security, the US military is paid for via expansionary monetary policy. Even after military spending Americans consume more resources per head than could be paid for by the quantity of goods and services they produce.

America's primary export is dollars, which the fed prints for free but the rest of the world needs in order to conduct trade in dollars. As the dollar devalues through inflation the rest of the world needs to keep topping up their reserve of dollars in order to trade. Cushy little arrangement for the yanks.

It is getting hard to tell the difference between Russian propaganda and people who are so ill educated they think that self inflicted wounds caused by the internal structure of the American economy can be cured by taking aim at the other foot and loosing off a round or two.

[PAULJ5555]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Add a link then please, I'm obviously getting info from the wrong places I'm searching.

[AreOut]

lol

US embassy warns Americans in London to 'keep a low profile' during Trump visit

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/10/us...

[Eric Mc]

By the way, last night the US Senate voted 97 to 2 in favour of supporting NATO - in direct contravention of Trump's public stance.

Don't forget, this is a Senate with a Republican majority.

Encouraging to see.

[Dindoit]

Countdown said:

I don’t believe there was any deliberate collusion but, given how many things Trump has fked up since he came to power, I’m sure Putin is incredibly happy.

I also don’t think Trump’s camp were clever enough to deliberately collude however they’ve but welcome recipients that have been manipulated, perhaps even unknowingly, and have looked the other way.

[JuniorD]

I hope Donald is looking out his window with a Russian dictionary as he flies to Chequers

https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/rude-message-to...

[Tartan Pixie]

Byker28i said:

trumps arrived in Brussels for the NATO summit just as the Senate just passed 97-2 vote reaffirming the U.S. commitment to NATO.
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-priorities/20...

As part of the protests for his UK visit, protesters in the U.K. have launched a campaign to play Green Day 'American Idiot' so many times that, by the time he arrives, the song will be the No. 1 single here.

Interesting point in the article, "the Senate passed a non-binding measure, 97-2, that expresses support for NATO". Looks like Trump's GOP enablers have finally found something they don't like about Trump's behaviour, took them long enough.

With guardrails up around the baby pen I don't think there's much Trump can do other than soiling his twitter nappy and wiping it all over America's reputation, the structures underneath are strong enough to hold. With regards to NATO I'm more worried about the complete absence of political competence in the UK because our geography, currency, culture and arms industry sit squarely between Europe and America. Having a friendly and prosperous EU/USA relationship is the UK's number one geopolitical interest.

The Putin meeting is where things are going to get interesting. Netanyahu has been pressuring Russia to limit Iranian influence in Syria and generally keep shia militias and Hezbollah away from the Israeli border. There's serious questions around Russia's ability to deliver such a result, especially while the Syrian government needs those troops.

Trump has a lot of leverage in this situation due to the Russia/Iran sanctions and his good personal ties with Putin and Netanyahu. There's also the possibility of trade offs such as US withdrawal from Syria for Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. Whether Trump is competent enough to get anything out of this situation remains to be seen but whenever there is an opportunity for peace to be made I am of the opinion that the opportunity should be grabbed with both hands.

[Eric Mc]

JuniorD said:

I hope Donald is looking out his window with a Russian dictionary as he flies to Chequers

https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/rude- message-to-donald-trump-appears-as-a-crop-circle-on-stoke-mandeville-farm-1-8562297

I think that's the word you hear very often in Russian dash cam crash videos.

[alfie2244]

I just heard on BBC that Tusk is ' "warning" Trump to appreciate his allies because he doesn't have many'...is that wise?

[Countdown]

PAULJ5555 said:

But he has done things that he said he was going to do

Could you name one constructive thing he’s achieved?

PAULJ55555 said:

You asked about NATO, are all the other countries meeting their obligations financially? or is this made up?

Yes, like many of Trump’s statements it’s made up. The 2% is a NON-BINDING target and one that NATO members said they would try to achieve by 2024.

On a separate but related point - I think other countries have the right to tell Trump to GFH when he talks about “obligations” given Trump’s approach to ignoring treaties/agreements that he doesn’t like. “America First” cuts both ways.

[Eric Mc]

He's just started the NATO meeting by lambasting Germany for doing trade deals with Russia.

I know American's sometimes don't "do" irony.

No more "Ich bin ein Berliner".

It's over.

[sugerbear]

alfie2244 said:

I just heard on BBC that Tusk is ' "warning" Trump to appreciate his allies because he doesn't have many'...is that wise?

Only if you stupid enough to think Trump will invade Europe because of a perceived slight.

[PAULJ5555]

Countdown said:

PAULJ5555 said:

But he has done things that he said he was going to do

Could you name one constructive thing he’s achieved?

PAULJ55555 said:

You asked about NATO, are all the other countries meeting their obligations financially? or is this made up?

Yes, like many of Trump’s statements it’s made up. The 2% is a NON-BINDING target and one that NATO members said they would try to achieve by 2024.

On a separate but related point - I think other countries have the right to tell Trump to GFH when he talks about “obligations” given Trump’s approach to ignoring treaties/agreements that he doesn’t like. “America First” cuts both ways.

Now I am confused, Nato mambers are not meeting the 2% non-binding target so that suggests that some are paying in more than others unless they try and acheive it in another 6 years time.