God-Emperor Trump lays the smack-down on NATO

[brimic]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/world/europe/trump-nato-live-updates.html

 

Will the winning ever end? Every day is something new to punch my giggle button....

[French G.]

Going to be much outrage and nowhere will anyone be able to say he is wrong.

[MechAg94]

Maybe it will start a discussion about the actual need for the NATO alliance going forward.  I think that discussion needs to happen.  We should continue funding international institutions just for tradition.  If there is no need or continuing purpose, then dismantle them. 

[Hawkmoon]

“How can you be together when a country is getting its energy from the country you want protection against?”

The emperor's new clothes.

Trump is the proverbial bull in a china shop. He doesn't mind telling it like it is, and that makes a lot of people feel all butt hurt, because deep inside they know he's right.

[French G.]

We have the war on semantics now, trump says 60% of their energy from Russia, fact checkers determined that was a lie, only 20% of their total energy comes from gas, oh yeah, they get 60% of that from Russia, please kindly ignore four winter's ago when they throttled delivery and that pesky Ukraine war, Crimea thing, Syrian mess, none of those have anything to do with pipelines.

[slugcatcher]

We have the war on semantics now, trump says 60% of their energy from Russia, fact checkers determined that was a lie, only 20% of their total energy comes from gas, oh yeah, they get 60% of that from Russia, please kindly ignore four winter's ago when they throttled delivery and that pesky Ukraine war, Crimea thing, Syrian mess, none of those have anything to do with pipelines.
[/quote

Didn't the Reagan administration warn Europe about that pipeline?  Of course that was back when actors weren't smart enough to hold political office.

[BobR]

NATO leaders pledged their “unwavering commitment” to boost defense spending on Wednesday, following stern words from President Trump criticizing European leaders for spending too little.

Looks like those stern words may have worked. I guess you don't have to bow and say please all the time. :)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/11/trump-tangles-with-nato-leaders-in-testy-start-to-brussels-summit.html

bob

[Hawkmoon]

I wonder if the universe would implode if Trump were to start calling in all the I.O.U.s European countries still owe the United States after WW2 ...

[brimic]

I wonder if the universe would implode if Trump were to start calling in all the I.O.U.s European countries still owe the United States after WW2 ...

...with interest.

[Hawkmoon]

Wouldn't it be fun to see Trump remind the president of China that if the United States hadn't bailed them out, they'd be speaking Japanese today?

[brimic]

Wouldn't it be fun to see Trump remind the president of China that if the United States hadn't bailed them out, they'd be speaking Japanese today?

Wait long enough, and he'll say it. He says the things we want to say.

[BobR]

My theory is someone close to the POTUS (DTJ?) comes here and gets ideas. There have been way too many coincidences where we are talking and saying things and then BOOM... here came a tweet from POTUS or a sound bite saying exactly what we were saying. Spooky I tell you!!

bob

[MechAg94]

My theory is someone close to the POTUS (DTJ?) comes here and gets ideas. There have been way too many coincidences where we are talking and saying things and then BOOM... here came a tweet from POTUS or a sound bite saying exactly what we were saying. Spooky I tell you!!

bob

I will go on record and say it isn't me.   


I imagine your first thought was "duh!". 

[230RN]

^,^: Funny, I've had the same suspicion for quite a while.

But I finally decided it's just a question of him saying what we would say if we had the bully pulpit.  

OTOH, there's a high suspicion his son is on a gun board... that's a possibility for a "leak."  Heh-heh.

But 'tain't me, even though we both grew up in the same area in Queens.

Terry, 230RN

[makattak]

Going to be much outrage and nowhere will anyone be able to say he is wrong.

Yep, that's Trump's biggest "flaw".

He says the things that "Polite" people won't say. It was like his S-Hole comment. No one could saw he was wrong, just that they were outraged he would say it.

[brimic]

^,^: Funny, I've had the same suspicion for quite a while.

But I finally decided it's just a question of him saying what we would say if we had the bully pulpit.  

OTOH, there's a high suspicion his son is on a gun board... that's a possibility for a "leak."  Heh-heh.

But 'tain't me, even though we both grew up in the same area in Queens.

Terry, 230RN

I'm sure they've thought of using a search algorithm to detect high concentrations of snark combined with general disdain for big government..

[MechAg94]

Yep, that's Trump's biggest "flaw".

He says the things that "Polite" people won't say. It was like his S-Hole comment. No one could saw he was wrong, just that they were outraged he would say it.

To me, "polite people" has nearly become synonymous with "Scum Sucking, Do Nothing, Big Govt Politician" who are out to enrich themselves (substitute "Bureaucrat" for politician if needed).  It basically means he isn't part of the power elite in D.C. or the international order.  

Politicians have politely eroded our rights and wasted our tax money for a long time.  If Trump being impolite and crude is what it takes to shake things up and get positive things done, then I am all for it.  

[Kingcreek]

I think Clinton and George W bush both wanted people to like them, Obama wanted people to worship him, and trump doesn't give a sh!t if anybody likes him.
Which makes him a much better president in my opinion.

[Perd Hapley]

I think Clinton and George W bush both wanted people to like them, Obama wanted people to worship him, and trump doesn't give a sh!t if anybody likes him.
Which makes him a much better president in my opinion.

But Trump is the one who's thin-skinned, right?

[KD5NRH]

My theory is someone close to the POTUS (DTJ?) comes here and gets ideas. There have been way too many coincidences where we are talking and saying things and then BOOM... here came a tweet from POTUS or a sound bite saying exactly what we were saying. Spooky I tell you!!

Maybe Melania is stalking me, trying to decide what offer would make me most likely to accept her as a sugar momma.

(For the record, $1M cash and a medium sized house on some of the cheap land about 15 miles from here would do it.  A couple of those ranches even have nice long, flat areas perfect for a private runway so she can visit whenever she wants without the inconvenience of major airports.)

(I'll even take payments of, say, $5k/month if avoiding the large transaction paperwork is a concern.)

[grampster]

I keep having to constantly remind him not to say, grampster told me.....

[lee n. field]

^,^: Funny, I've had the same suspicion for quite a while.

But I finally decided it's just a question of him saying what we would say if we had the bully pulpit.  

OTOH, there's a high suspicion his son is on a gun board... that's a possibility for a "leak."  Heh-heh.

There's a "djtjr" user on TFL.  No posts.  

if he's around now, I expect he'd be using a more obfuscated pseudonym.

djtjr on thr

[HankB]

I saw John Kerry was berating Trump, so I figure POTUS did something right again. 

[freakazoid]

Wasn't it revealed that he posts on some bow and arrow forum or something?

[Hawkmoon]

John Kerry?