Donald Trump at the NATO Summit, Brussels, Belgium, July 2018 (Doug Mills/New York Times)
I joined Monocle Radio’s Georgina Godwin on Monday to analyze Donald Trump’s verbal assault on NATO member states, including his invitation to Russia to attack them.
Listen from 10:30:
After a replay of Trump’s remarks on Saturday night in South Carolina — “I would encourage [the Russians] to do whatever the hell they want” — I detail his history from the 1980s of denouncing alliances in Europe and Asia. I evaluate his attempts at President to withdraw the US from NATO, and the likelihood that — having been checked by American agencies from doing so — he will step up the effort from Day 1 of a second Presidency.
I consider what could be done to stop this. I begin with US voters and American media and continue with a call, which I have made since the 1990s, for other countries to organize their security without looking to Washington to take the lead.
It’s absolutely legitimate to raise the issue of NATO countries earmarking 2% of GDP to defense.
What is absolutely not legitimate is to turn that issue into a protection racket. And Donald Trump has now put his protection racket on record: “If you do not pay me, Donald Trump, then the Russians will attack you. And I will let them do it.”
Most NATO members may be able to allocate 2% of their GDP for military spending on paper, but they can’t do that if they can’t produce enough military hardware, systems, and gear to reach the 2% mark. NATO countries have largely de-industrialized, which is why they have failed to provide Ukraine with enough military supplies (e.g. hardware, shells). In contrast to Russia and Belarus, the former Soviet republics now in the EU and NATO chose to shed the heavy industry they had during the Cold War. The US is no exception. This is what happens when countries transition from industrial economies to financialized economies.
And that’s only one reason why NATO is a shadow of its former self and can’t go toe-to-toe with Russia on the battlefield. US military over-extension is another reason. “He who defends everything defends nothing.” — Frederick the Great
Trump appeals to Supreme Court on immunity: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23A745/300410/20240212154110541_2024-02-12%20-%20US%20v.%20Trump%20-%20Application%20to%20S.%20Ct.%20for%20Stay%20of%20D.C.%20Circuit%20Mandate%20-%20Final%20With%20Tables%20and%20Appendix.pdf
How the US removed Imran Khan from power: https://theintercept.com/2023/08/09/imran-khan-pakistan-cypher-ukraine-russia/
Pakistanis recently elected independent MPs supportive of the jailed PM.