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Serious Ang Moh Trump: NATO is Fucking Obsolete!

Ang4MohTrump

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...e-but-still-very-important-to-me/3442360.html

Trump says NATO is obsolete but still 'very important to me'


Posted 16 Jan 2017 19:50

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LONDON: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said NATO was obsolete because it had not defended against terror attacks, but that the military alliance was still very important to him, The Times of London reported.

“I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete," Trump told the newspaper in an interview. "It’s obsolete because it wasn’t taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right."

Trump added that many NATO members were not paying their fair share for U.S. protection.

“A lot of these countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States," Trump said. "With that being said, NATO is very important to me. There’s five countries that are paying what they’re supposed to. Five. It’s not much."

(Reporting by William James, editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

- Reuters
 

Rogue Trader

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Defense spending by the other NATO alliance countries is pathetic.

Trump is just telling them to start paying for cleaning up the shit in Syria which was caused by Obama
 

Leongsam

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I agree with Trump 100%. No longer will the USA be taken for a ride by other countries.

America has been run by a complete idiot for the last 8 years.
 

Ang4MohTrump

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I agree with Trump 100%. No longer will the USA be taken for a ride by other countries.

America has been run by a complete idiot for the last 8 years.

Putin must eat up all the lost territories of USSR and swallow entire EU ASAP. Become twice as strong as USA and then bully USA like a rabbit, every day make Ang Moh Trump suck cock.
 

Leongsam

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Putin must eat up all the lost territories of USSR and swallow entire EU ASAP. Become twice as strong as USA and then bully USA like a rabbit, every day make Ang Moh Trump suck cock.

Russia does not have the finances to match the USA. It would be a very uneven battlefield.
 

Ang4MohTrump

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Ang Moh Trump is on fire. Entire EU leaders are all fucking him just before his inauguration!




https://sputniknews.com/politics/201701171049661180-hollande-trump-eu-advice/

Hollande on Trump's NATO Remarks: Europe Needs No Policy Advice From Abroad

© REUTERS/ Eric Gaillard
Politics
03:23 17.01.2017Get short URL
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Europe intends to continue cooperating with NATO and does not need any advice on its actions from foreign states, French President Francois Hollande said Monday, commenting on US President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism of NATO.

NATO EUFOR ceremony
© Flickr/ Rock Cohen
French Ex-PM Valls Calls Trump’s Remarks on EU, NATO 'Declaration of War'
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The statement came after US President-elect Donald Trump called NATO an "obsolete" organization in an interview with The Times newspaper, saying it is not much engaged in countering terrorism, while its member countries' contributions are not efficient.

In the same interview Trump also welcomed British decision on Brexit, criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migration policy and described prospects for improving US-Russia relations.

"Europe will always be ready to continue transatlantic cooperation, but it will be determined by its interests and values … [Europe] does not need external advice," Hollande said, as quoted by Le Soir newspaper.

Throughout the 2016 campaign, Trump called into question the viability of NATO, the disproportionate US financial contribution to the alliance and Washington’s pledge to defend NATO’s members as per Article 5 of the Washington Treaty that established the alliance in 1949.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!




http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-17/european-leaders-react-to-trumps-attack-on-nato/8187382


European leaders defiant against Donald Trump's labelling of NATO as 'obsolete'

The World Today
By Imogen Brennan

Updated January 17, 2017 15:32:02
Donald Trump points and appears to argue with a CNN reporter at a press conference
Photo: John Kerry says Mr Trump should not get into the habit of commenting directly on the issues of US allies. (Reuters: Lucas Jackson)
Related Story: 'I believe others will leave': Trump hails Brexit, predicts further breaks
Related Story: IMF lifts US growth forecasts on Trump but warns of increasing global risks
Related Story: Obama warns 'don't underestimate' Trump in final interview
Map: European Union

Stunned European leaders are reacting with defiance to the US President-elect Donald Trump labelling the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) "obsolete".
Key points:

French President says Europe has "no need for outside advice"

Donald Trump criticised Angela Merkel for allowing 1 million refugees into her country
John Kerry called Mr Trump's comments 'inappropriate'

Mr Trump also predicted that the European Union would continue to fracture.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there were "no signals that there is an easing of tensions" when he spoke to European foreign ministers and NATO foreign ministers.

"I think all of the NATO member states read the interview with the same concerns as myself," he said.

"It is difficult to read the interview to the end without feeling concerned."

French President Francois Hollande went further by saying that Europe "has no need for outside advice to tell it what to do".

But EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged her peers to remain calm.

"It's very important for us all to refrain from unilateral actions," she said.

In a speech at the German Chambers of Commerce, Chancellor Angela Merkel did not mention Mr Trump by name, but did indirectly respond to his remarks.

"We are experiencing a Europe that is certainly showing signs of uncertainty," she said.

"The referendum in Great Britain was a great shock for us all and is a big slash in the future of the Union.

"I think we must now focus all our energy on two things, firstly to continue good relations with Great Britain.

"There are many, many reasons and not just trade commitments but also we are NATO partners, and we are tied together in friendship."

Ms Merkel said in her speech that now more than ever, Germany held a position of great responsibility and she was ready to fight for her principles.

"I beg you, don't go for short-sighted opportunism too quickly but stand by the principles that we have acknowledged over and over again," she said.

"He who won't fight for his ideals of basic principles, he who goes for the small short-term advantage and gives up his foundations can not achieve success in the long-term."

Trump's comments inappropriate: John Kerry


Mr Trump had earlier criticised Ms Merkel for allowing 1 million refugees into her country last year.

But US Secretary of State John Kerry praised the German Chancellor for her welcoming policy.

"I think she's been extraordinarily courageous, I think she's been extraordinarily important to Europe as an entity and we, the Obama administration, have valued her leadership enormously," he said.

He told CNN that Mr Trump should not get into the habit of commenting directly on the issues of US allies.

"Frankly it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the United States to be stepping in to the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner," he said.

European leaders have been holding their breath to see just what happens after Mr Trump's inauguration on Friday.

Already he has called Brexit a "great idea", saying it had paved the way for other countries to leave the block.




http://www.france24.com/en/20170116-trump-nato-obsolete-brexit-great-thing


Trump: NATO 'obsolete', Brexit a 'great thing'

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© Drew Angerer / Getty Images / AFP | President-elect Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, January 13, 2017 in New York City.

Video by Philip CROWTHER

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2017-01-16
President-elect Donald Trump, in remarks published on Sunday, described NATO as "obsolete" and suggested a deal with Russia that would reduce nuclear arsenals and ease sanctions on Moscow.

He also hailed Britain's exit from the EU and backed a speedy trade deal with the UK, but condemned as "catastrophic" Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to open Germany's doors to a flood of refugees.

"I said a long time ago that NATO had problems," Trump told The Times of London and Bild, Germany's biggest-selling daily.

"Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago," he said.

"Number two, the countries aren't paying what they're supposed to pay."

"I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete. It's obsolete because it wasn't taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right."

He added, though, "NATO is very important to me."

On the campaign trail, Trump said he would think twice about helping NATO allies if the United States were not "reasonably reimbursed" for the costs of defending them.

His comments caused consternation among eastern European NATO countries nervous about Moscow following Russia's annexation of Crimea and involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

Video: EU leaders defiant over Trump remarks

After Trump's victory, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had been a bedrock of transatlantic security for "almost 70 years" and was especially needed at a time of new challenges.

"This is no time to question the partnership between Europe and the United States," Stoltenberg said.

Spending has been a common source of friction within the 28-nation alliance over recent years.

The core military contributor to the alliance is the United States, which accounts for about 70 percent of spending.

In 2014, stung into action by Russia's intervention in Ukraine, upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa, NATO leaders agreed to reverse years of defence cuts and devote the equivalent of two percent of economic output to defence.

"The countries aren't paying their fair share so we're supposed to protect countries," Trump said in Sunday's interview.

"There's five countries that are paying what they're supposed to. Five. It's not much."

Nuclear deal

In other remarks carried by The Times, Trump suggested cutting a deal with Russia in which nuclear arsenals would be reduced and sanctions against Moscow would be eased.

"They have sanctions on Russia -- let's see if we can make some good deals with Russia. I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that's part of it," Trump said.

"But Russia's hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit," said the president-elect, who has previously expressed admiration for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

There were no details about the specific sanctions that Trump had in mind, or their range.

Under Barack Obama, the US applied various sanctions against Moscow for its involvement in Ukraine, the Syrian war and for alleged cyber attacks to influence the US election.

Washington's European allies imposed sanctions against Russia over Ukraine in 2014. Those measures were renewed on December 19.

'Great' Brexit

In other remarks, Trump said Brexit "is going to end up as a great thing" and said he backed a trade deal with post-EU Britain, which would be "good for both sides."
Trump: 'Brexit's going to end up being a great'

"We're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly," said Trump, confirming he will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May soon after his inauguration on January 20.

"Other countries will leave" the European Union in future, Trump prophesied, largely due to the pressure the bloc was put under following a significant uptick in migrants and refugees arriving.

"If they hadn't been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that it... entails, I think that you wouldn't have a Brexit. This was the final straw that broke the camel's back," he said.

'Catastrophic' Merkel move

But he also criticised Merkel for letting Germany admit undocumented migrants into the country, insinuating that this posed a security risk.

"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from. And nobody even knows where they come from," Trump said, adding he had "great respect" for the chancellor.

Merkel took flak at home after her open-door policy aimed at desperate Syrian refugees brought 890,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015, contributing to the rise of an anti-migrant movement.

But in 2016, that figure dropped back sharply, to 280,000 arrivals the government said last Wednesday.

(AFP)



http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2017-01/17/c_1120327574.htm


法国总统奥朗德反驳特朗普称“欧盟不需要外部建议”
2017-01-17 11:11:51 来源: 新华社
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  新华社巴黎1月16日电(记者韩冰)据法国媒体报道,法国总统奥朗德16日在公开场合回应美国候任总统特朗普对欧盟的批评时表示:“欧盟不需要外部来建议它该做什么。”

  奥朗德说,在美国新一届政府即将就任之际,他想提醒美国,欧盟和美国的关系始终建立在相互尊敬和支持等原则和价值观之上。欧盟重视与美国的盟友关系,永远乐于与美国开展合作,但欧盟也有能力自己制定战略。他强调,欧盟不仅是经济力量,也是一个政治力量。

  针对特拉普声称北约“老掉牙”的观点,奥朗德说,北约“只有在各种威胁本身已经过时之后才会过时”。

  奥朗德还呼吁,欧盟在防务与安全等领域应承担自己的责任,走出欧盟自己的道路。

  特朗普日前在接受英国《泰晤士报》采访时抨击德国总理默克尔的开放性移民政策,认为默克尔犯下“灾难性错误”。特朗普还称北约已经“老掉牙”,并表示英国“脱欧”是“一件伟大的事情”。
 

Ang4MohTrump

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...r-hands-angela-merkels-defiant-reply-to-trump


'Europe's fate is in our hands': Angela Merkel's defiant reply to Trump

Chancellor joined by French president in making curt comments about the US president-elect’s remarks about Germany, EU and Nato
Merkel to Trump: Europe’s fate is ‘in its own hands’

Philip Oltermann in Berlin
@philipoltermann

Monday 16 January 2017 19.54 GMT
First published on Monday 16 January 2017 19.07 GMT

Angela Merkel and François Hollande have responded curtly but defiantly after Donald Trump cast further doubt on his commitment to Nato and gave strong hints that he would not support EU cohesion once in office.

“We Europeans have our fate in our own hands,” the German chancellor said after the publication of the US president-elect’s interviews with the Times and German tabloid Bild. “He has presented his positions once more. They have been known for a while. My positions are also known.”
Donald Trump's first UK post-election interview: Brexit a 'great thing'
Read more

In the Times interview, Trump complained that Nato had become “obsolete” because it “hadn’t taken care of terror” – a comment later welcomed by the Kremlin. He suggested that other European countries would follow in Britain’s footsteps and leave the EU.

Hollande, the French president, retorted by saying Europe did not need to be told what to do by outsiders.

“Europe will be ready to pursue transatlantic cooperation, but it will based on its interests and values,” Hollande said on Monday. “It does not need outside advice to tell it what to do.”

Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said the criticism of Nato had caused concern in the political and military alliance. “I’ve spoken today not only with EU foreign ministers but Nato foreign ministers as well and can report that the signals are that there’s been no easing of tensions,” he said.

Other senior members of Merkel’s government were quick to defend Germany’s policies after Trump criticised the chancellor’s handling of the refugee crisis and threatened a 35% tariff on BMW cars imported to the US.

Responding to Trump’s comments that Merkel had made an “utterly catastrophic mistake by letting all these illegals into the country”, the deputy chancellor and minister for the economy, Sigmar Gabriel, said the increase in the number of people fleeing the Middle East to seek asylum in Europe had partially been a result of US-led wars destabilising the region.
BMW factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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BMW factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Photograph: Bloomberg/via Getty Images

“There is a link between America’s flawed interventionist policy, especially the Iraq war, and the refugee crisis; that’s why my advice would be that we shouldn’t tell each other what we have done right or wrong, but that we look into establishing peace in that region and do everything to make sure people can find a home there again,” Gabriel said.

“In that area, Germany and Europe are already making enormous achievements – and that’s why I also thought it wasn’t right to talk about defence spending, where Mr Trump says we are spending too little to finance Nato. We are making gigantic financial contributions to refugee shelters in the region, and these are also the results of US interventionist policy.”

John Kerry, the outgoing US secretary of state, also responded tartly to Trump’s criticisms of Merkel, warning him he would need to rein in his views once he took office.

“I thought, frankly, it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the United States to be stepping in to the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner,” Kerry told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “As of Friday, he’s responsible for that relationship.

“But I think we have to be very careful about suggesting that one of the strongest leaders in Europe - and one of the most important in respect of where we are heading - made one mistake or another.”

Gabriel, who is expected to run as the centre-left candidate against Merkel in Germany’s federal elections in September, said Trump’s election should encourage Europeans to stand up for themselves.
Donald Trump's German interviewer is bête noire for the left
Read more

“On the one hand, Trump is an elected president. When he is in office, we will have to work with him and his government – respect for a democratic election alone demands that,” Gabriel said.

“On the other hand, you need to have enough self-confidence. This isn’t about making ourselves submissive. What he says about trade issues, how he might treat German carmakers, the question about Nato, his view on the European Union – all these require a self-confident position, not just on behalf of us Germans but all Europeans. We are not inferior to him, we have something to bring to the table, too.

“Especially in this phase in which Europe is rather weak, we will have to pull ourselves together and act with self-confidence and stand up for our own interests.”

The German foreign ministry rejected Trump’s criticism that creating “security zones” in Syria would have been considerably cheaper than accepting refugees fleeing the war-torn country.

“What exactly such a security zone is meant to be is beyond my comprehension and would have to be explained,” said Martin Schäfer, a spokesman for the German foreign ministry.
Brexit supporters at a pro-EU rally.
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Brexit supporters at a pro-EU rally. Trump said Brexit vote was a good thing. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Schäfer also rejected Trump’s labelling of the EU as a “vehicle for Germany”. He said: “For the German government, Europe has never been a means to an end but a community of fate which, in times of collapsing old orders, is more important than ever.”

Hints of a fundamental shift in US trade policy sent shockwaves through German politics and business.

In his interview, Trump indicated that he would aim to realign the “out of balance” car trade between Germany and the US. “If you go down Fifth Avenue, everyone has a Mercedes Benz in front of his house, isn’t that the case?” he said. “How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not very many, maybe none at all … it’s a one-way street.”

Asked what Trump could do to make sure German customers bought more American cars, Gabriel said: “Build better cars.”
A guide to Trump-speak: think 'bloke talking loudly in the pub'
Read more

Shares in BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen fell on Monday morning following Trump’s comments. BMW shares were down 0.85%, shares in Daimler were 1.54% lower and Volkswagen shares were trading 1.07% down in early trading in Frankfurt.

All three carmakers have invested heavily in factories in Mexico, where production costs are lower than the US, with an eye to exporting smaller vehicles to the US market.

A BMW spokeswoman said a BMW Group plant in the central Mexican city of San Luis Potosi would build the BMW 3 Series from 2019, with the output intended for the world market. The plant in Mexico would be an addition to existing 3 Series production facilities in Germany and China.

But Gabriel said on Monday that a tax on German imports would lead to a “bad awakening” among US carmakers since they were reliant on transatlantic supply chains.

“I believe BMW’s biggest factory is already in the US, in Spartanburg [South Carolina],” Gabriel, leader of the SPD, told Bild in a video interview.

“The US car industry would have a bad awakening if all the supply parts that aren’t being built in the US were to suddenly come with a 35% tariff. I believe it would make the US car industry weaker, worse and above all more expensive. I would wait and see what Congress has to say about that, which is mostly full of people who want the opposite of Trump.”




http://www.vox.com/world/2017/1/16/14285232/trump-eu-nato-interview



Trump just threatened to dismantle the European-American alliance as we know it

Updated by Zack Beauchamp@zackbeauchamp Jan 16, 2017, 2:05pm EST

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(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Donald Trump just lobbed a grenade into the normally staid world of European-American diplomacy, using a joint interview with two of Europe’s biggest newspapers to call NATO “obsolete,” predict that the European Union would fall apart and announce that the US wouldn’t really care if it did, and threaten to potentially start a trade war with Germany over BMW’s plans to build a manufacturing plant in Mexico.

For good measure, Trump also criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of Washington’s closest allies, while hinting that he’d be willing to lift the sanctions imposed on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has rattled many in Europe by annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and threatening to use force against other of his neighbors.

Merkel, Trump said, had made a "catastrophic" mistake by allowing more than a million refugees into her country, a decision that has seriously dented her popularity at home. The president-elect also said hinted that he’d be willing to remove the sanctions on Russia if Putin agreed to reduce his nuclear stockpile (which is almost literally the opposite of what the Russian leader has been talking about).

"They have sanctions against Russia -- let's see if we can strike a few good deals with Russia,” Trump said in the joint interview. “I think there should be less nuclear weapons and they have to be reduced significantly, that's part of it.”

The remarks forced Secretary of State John Kerry to spend one of his last days as America’s top diplomat repairing the damage that Trump has done before even taking the oath of office. In an interview with CNN, Kerry said it was "inappropriate" for Trump to "be stepping in to the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner."

Kerry is right to be worried. Bashing NATO and the European Union, and alienating Germany, is a plan for tearing apart US relations with the EU — for weakening the agreements that underpin America’s status as the sole superpower and that maintain peace on the European continent.

It also means that Trump is talking about radically reshaping US foreign policy in a way that would significantly boost Putin’s influence while leaving America’s allies scrambling to figure out where they stand and how much they can trust in the future stability of an international system that haa brought unprecedented economic strength and stability to the continent for decades.

“What Trump proposes is [American] geopolitical suicide,” Daniel Nexon, a professor at Georgetown who studies great power politics, writes at the Lawyers, Guns, and Money blog. “Make no mistake: you should be very worried right now.”
The allied West — and how Trump is already weakening it

After World War II, the United States and its allies attempted to create a new world — one defined by rules and order, in which such a devastating war could never happen again.

A Western alliance, NATO, was designed to deter Soviet aggression. International institutions, like the UN, were set up to allow countries to resolve differences peacefully. Global financial institutions, like the General Agreement on Trade and Tarriffs (which would become the World Trade Organization), were designed to prevent countries from reimposing the self-defeating trade barriers that made the Great Depression far worse than it had to be.

For the past 70 years, these institutions have worked astonishingly well. In his joint interview with the Times of London and German’s Bild newspaper, Trump basically takes aim at all three pillars of those systems: military, political, and economic.

Start with NATO. In the interview, Trump reiterated his claim, first made during the campaign, that NATO was obsolete because it didn’t pay enough attention to terrorism and because other members didn’t pay enough to fund it. He claimed that he’d been proven right.

“I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete,” Trump says. “And then they started saying Trump is right.”

That’s not when European leaders have been saying in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s speech. Speaking to reporters in Brussels before a meeting of top EU diplomats, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the comments had caused "astonishment and agitation" within the military alliance.

That’s because NATO works through commitment: Members pledge that an attack on one will be treated as an attack on all. As Trump calls the value of the alliance into question, other states might question whether he would actually defend a NATO ally if attacked — especially since, during the campaign, he said he might not. If countries don’t believe in that promise, then it stops serving as a deterrent — potentially encouraging Russia to menace a NATO member-state.

“The United States president-elect is actively working to increase the risk of military escalation and war in Europe,” Thomas Rid, a professor at King’s College London’s Department of War Studies, tweeted in response to the interview.
Trump would be perfectly happy if the EU crumbled

That’s the military component, the first leg of the world order’s tripod. Trump’s comments on the European Union — one of the cornerstone international institutions of the post-war order — are even more startling. Trump actively predicted that the EU would fall apart, and suggested that the US wouldn’t really care if it did.

“The EU was formed, partially, to beat the United States on trade, OK?” he asked rhetorically. “I don’t really care whether it’s separate or together.”

Here you see Trump’s basic mindset at work — the world is a series of zero-sum tradeoffs. If the EU serves European countries well, economically, then it must be bad for the United States. Hence he won’t try, as President Obama has, to use US influence to prevent more countries from leaving the European Union.

Trump’s view is wrong on the economics. But perhaps more scarily, it’s ignorant of the politics.

See, the European Union was designed as much more than a free trading bloc. Its architects designed it, very explicitly, as a way of unifying Europe politically. The closer Europeans are economically, and the more a sense of a shared European identity there is, the less likely that France and Germany, say, are to see each other as military threats.

This, in fact, has worked. Europe is what scholars Barry Buzan and Ole Waever call a "security community," a place where countries "stop treating each other as security problems and start behaving as friends." That is directly tied to European integration, which established a set of post-war institutions that make international disputes more like normal politics. The Europeans take their problems to each other and their shared institutions, such as the European Commission and Parliament.

Because they spent the immediate post-war years forcing themselves to take to those institutions, Europeans proved that they can work, and thus made them far more appealing options than conflict. Europeans' fundamental beliefs about how European states should treat each other has transformed with the EU's institutions.

After the Euro and refugee crises, the rise of anti-EU far-right parties, and Brexit, this pacifying institution is facing unprecedented threats. Now, Trump is signaling that he won’t wield the US’s peerless influence to try to ward off said threats. That’s strike two against the world order.

Strike three is Trump’s plan to attack the German auto industry. In the interview, Trump proposes to slap a 35 percent tax on BMW imports to the United States as a form of retaliation for building a plant in Mexico.

“I would tell BMW if they think they’re gonna build a plant in Mexico and sell cars into the US without a 35 per cent tax, it’s not gonna happen,” he says. “What I’m saying is they have to build their plant in the US.”

Here you see Trump replaying a domestic policy move of his — bully specific companies into putting more manufacturing plants in the United States by threatening economic problems if they don’t comply.

But BMW isn’t an American company, it’s a German one. If the United States slaps this kind of tariff on a German company, Germany will likely retaliate against the United States. This is the early stages of what economists call a “trade war” — where countries make trading with each other harder to punish one side’s protectionism.

This, too, is an assault on the post-war order. Trade, like the EU, has both an economic and political function. Its political function is to bind Western countries together, to align their interests and prevent trade wars that would slow down growth globally. By attacking a key company in one of America’s most important allies, he risks not only damage to the US economy — but alienating a critical partner in managing the global economy and keeping trade open.

Military, political, economic — this interview is a blueprint for war on the international order.
“Putin’s wish list”

There is only country that benefits from all of these moves: Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Putin’s fundamental foreign policy goal is to restore Russia’s place as one of the world’s most powerful and influential nations. To do so, he wants to restore global politics to the way it was in the 19th century — when European countries saw each other as rivals rather than partners. This kind of “balance of power” world order would allow Russia to divide European powers by forming selective partnerships with some against the others — thus restoring Russian greatness.

Putin’s Russia is too weak, in political and military terms, to accomplish this on its own. The logical end point of Trump’s stated policies, regardless of whether that’s what he intends, is a fractured Europe that would be far less capable of standing up to Putin.

“Every [foreign policy] position Trump takes, starting from total ignorance around [a] year ago, is on Putin's wish list,” Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess master and dissident, tweets. “Brexit, Ukraine, NATO, EU, Merkel.”

Trump’s stated policy ideas, if implemented, would have the effect of accomplishing much of what Putin has dreamed of, but that the Russian leader may have never have thought possible.

Now, with Trump taking office in a few days, it all seems very frighteningly real. Trump is proposing isolating America from its allies, and isolating these allies from each other. The only power that benefits is Russia, perhaps America’s most significant strategic rival. There is a country that Trump may soon make great again. The problem is that it’s not the US.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...047072-dbe6-11e6-b2cf-b67fe3285cbc_story.html


European leaders shocked as Trump slams NATO and E.U., raising fears of transatlantic split

By Michael Birnbaum January 16 at 1:44 PM

BRUSSELS — European leaders grappled with the jolting reality of President-elect Donald Trump’s skepticism of the European Union on Monday, saying they might have to stand without the United States at their side during the Trump presidency.

The possibility of an unprecedented breach in transatlantic relations came after Trump — who embraced anti-E.U. insurgents during his campaign and following his victory — said in weekend remarks that the 28-nation European Union was bound for a breakup and that he was indifferent to its fate. He also said NATO’s current configuration is “obsolete,” even as he professed commitment to Europe’s defense.

Trump’s attitudes have raised alarm bells across Europe, which is facing a wave of elections this year in which anti-immigrant, Euroskeptic leaders could gain power. Most mainstream leaders have committed to working with Trump after his inauguration Friday, even as they have expressed hope that he will moderate his views once he takes office. His continued hard line has created a painful realization in Europe that they may now have to live without the full backing of their oldest, strongest partner. The European Union underpins much of the continent’s post-World War II prosperity, but skeptics have attacked it in recent years as a dysfunctional bloc that undermines finances and security.

“We will cooperate with him on all levels, of course,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin. But she said Europeans will need to take responsibility for themselves.

“We Europeans have our destiny in our own hands,” she said.

The full ramifications of a potential breakdown in transatlantic ties are so extensive, they are difficult to total. U.S. guarantees form the backbone of European security. The United States and the 500-million-people-strong European Union are each other’s most important trade partners. For decades, European nations and the United States have worked tightly together on issues of war, peace and wealth.

Trump appears skeptical that the European Union matters to American security or economic growth.

“People want their own identity, so if you ask me, others, I believe others will leave,” Trump said of the European Union in a weekend interview with the Times of London and Germany’s Bild newspaper. He said he did not care about the E.U.’s future. “I don’t think it matters much for the United States,” he said.

“You look at the European Union, and it’s Germany. Basically a vehicle for Germany,” Trump said, meaning Germany had used the free-trade bloc to sell its goods to the disadvantage of others. He added that Merkel had made a “very catastrophic mistake” in opening Europe’s doors to migrants and refugees.

And he offered no special credit to European nations for being long-standing U.S. allies, saying he will trust Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin alike at the outset of his presidency.

“I start off trusting both,” he said. “But let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all.”

Trump offered mixed messages about the NATO defense alliance, which is dominated by the United States, calling it “obsolete” and saying it is “very unfair to the United States” that most nations are not meeting their voluntary defense spending commitments. “With that being said, NATO is very important to me,” Trump said.

The Kremlin embraced Trump’s comments, with a spokesman agreeing that NATO is obsolete. British leaders also welcomed Trump’s willingness to negotiate a trade deal in the wake of their nation’s departure from the E.U.

But among most U.S. allies, Trump’s attitudes “caused astonishment and excitement, not just in Brussels,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters Monday in Brussels, where he was meeting with other European foreign ministers at a previously scheduled gathering. Coming directly from a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Steinmeier said NATO had listened to Trump’s comments “with concern.”

The incoming U.S. president is the first American leader since World War II not to support European integration. The European Union has long been considered to be in the U.S. interest, since it created a unified market for U.S. businesses, provided a bulwark against communism during the Cold War and helped quell the bloody slaughter that cost U.S. lives, among others, in the first half of the 20th century. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the European Union expanded eastward into formerly communist nations, a development that leaders there say helped bring rule of law and stability as they modernized their economies.

Steinmeier said Germany is trying to assess what U.S. foreign policy will actually be. For example, James Mattis, the retired Marine general nominated to be Trump’s defense secretary, offered straightforward support for NATO and skepticism of Russia at his confirmation hearing last week.

Other leaders said Europe’s future does not rise or fall based on attitudes in the White House.

“What we are looking for is a partnership based on common interests with the United States,” E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters. “We always like to be in good company, but we determine our policies by ourselves.”

Some analysts noted that after Britain’s vote last June to leave the European Union, support for the E.U. in other nations increased. They wondered whether Trump’s frontal challenge to the bloc might have a similar effect. But one said that if global instability rises as a result of Trump’s unpredictable policies, the stress could weigh on the already taxed European Union.

“Over the last decades, the United States has played a huge stabilizing role. And when this stabilizing role of the U.S. around the world falls away, because they’re doing transactional deals, that will create lots and lots of messes which will implicate European interests,” said Stefan Lehne, a former Austrian diplomat who now works at Carnegie Europe, a Brussels-based think tank.

One prominent U.S. advocate of European unity was concerned about Europe’s ability to weather the Trump tsunami.

As the European Union battles skeptical forces, “U.S. cheerleading and support has been welcomed,” outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Anthony Gardner said last week. “If there isn’t someone like a [Secretary of State John F.] Kerry or an Obama . . . reminding people of the importance of the European Union, then there’s a vacuum.”

French leaders, who face tough presidential elections in April, also appeared to be scrambling to handle the fallout. Trump allies have expressed support for the anti-E.U., anti-immigrant National Front party, whose leader, Marine Le Pen, is doing well in opinion polls. Le Pen lunched in the basement of Trump Tower last week in the company of a man who has served as an informal conduit for Trump’s contacts with Euroskeptic European leaders, although the Trump transition team denied any formal meeting with the French politician.

“The best response is European unity,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. “As with the case of Brexit, the best way to defend Europe is to remain united. This is a bit of an invitation that we are making to Mr. Trump. To remain a bloc. Not to forget that the force of Europeans is in their unity.”

But the most wishful approach to Trump’s declarations may have come from Luxembourg, where the nation’s top diplomat said he hoped Trump was still in campaign mode.

“One must hope that the statements of candidate Trump starting Friday will go in a different direction,” said Luxembourg’s foreign minister, Jean Asselborn. “If the risks are summed up, it would be very destabilizing, which is not in the interest of America.”

Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin contributed to this report.
 

Ang4MohTrump

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Loyal


Ang Moh Trump pissed off China and Europeans, Kremlin does not like him already after he ADMITTED to Obama's position that Russians Hacked his Election.

Ang Moh Trump is all alone by himself NO FRIENDS!

Either people Singled Him Out or He Look Down on People, or both ways.

He can Make America Great Again? Kiss My Ass!

 

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
In the next 2 years of his term, Trump will just reveal himself as nothing but a shit stirrer.

He will solve the problems he created in the first place and his fans will go "whaaoooo".

this guy is nothing but a shameless entertainer
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
In the next 2 years of his term, Trump will just reveal himself as nothing but a shit stirrer.

He will solve the problems he created in the first place and his fans will go "whaaoooo".

this guy is nothing but a shameless entertainer

Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air. The world needed someone to install a new OS and reboot the system. Trump is the man. He is the best! Long live Trump.

NATO is not obsolete. It never did a damned thing in the first place and was dysfunctional from day one.

Besides Europe is imploding so it does not make a scrap of difference. That frenchie prick and german bitch will soon be history anyway.
 

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air. The world needed someone to install a new OS and reboot the system. Trump is the man. He is the best! Long live Trump.

He will not reboot the system. He will just add drama.

NATO is not obsolete. It never did a damned thing in the first place and was dysfunctional from day one.

NATO was set up during the Cold war and never evolved beyond conventional warfare. But now wars aren't fought anymore by soldiers in military uniforms.

Besides Europe is imploding so it does not make a scrap of difference. That frenchie prick and german bitch will soon be history anyway.

True. History has taught us whenever an empire collapses and leaves a power vacuum, a world war will happen.
 

mojito

Alfrescian
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Not world war, just some localized conflicts, war of words between strong nations and weak nations. The Bigger Balls Theory prevails.
 

Ang4MohTrump

Alfrescian
Loyal
Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air. The world needed someone to install a new OS and reboot the system. Trump is the man. He is the best! Long live Trump.

NATO is not obsolete. It never did a damned thing in the first place and was dysfunctional from day one.

Besides Europe is imploding so it does not make a scrap of difference. That frenchie prick and german bitch will soon be history anyway.

Trump eventually will do a good job of getting rid of USA from world scene. Be very sure of this.
 
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