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Germany Slams Trump's Claim That It Owes Vast Sums
Zero Hedge ^ | March 19, 2017 | Zero Hedge's Trump Hater

Posted on 03/19/2017 6:54:35 AM PDT by KyCats

The pleasantries, lack of handshake between Trump and Merkel notwithstanding, are officially over.

One day after Trump returned to his favorite medium to slam Germany for abusing NATO's funding scheme, and US defense spending generosity, accusing Germany of owing "vast sums" of money to both NATO and the US, Germany has struck back. As a reminder, this is what Trump tweeted on Saturday morning:

"Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!"

That in turn, was followed on Sunday morning by a statement by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen in which she responded to Trump, rejecting the US president's claim: "There is no debit account at NATO," von der Leyen said in a statement, adding that it was wrong to link the alliance's target for members to spend 2 percent of their economic output on defense by 2024 solely to NATO.

(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...


TOPICS: Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: defense; military; nato
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We really need to remove all our troops from Europe. Right away. Let Germany provide the defense. Then we can start talking about "debit accounts" for us to return.
1 posted on 03/19/2017 6:54:35 AM PDT by KyCats
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To: KyCats

All of these loser socialist countries in europe are ungrateful for what America has done for them over the last century. The hell with them. Soon they will be pan-mooslum states. Good luck, you fools.


2 posted on 03/19/2017 7:00:58 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation camp?)
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To: KyCats

Germany should protect itself. If it wants to be part of the umbrella, they should pay for it.


3 posted on 03/19/2017 7:02:57 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: KyCats

Stasi Merkel has already shown us what she’s about. Let them deal with the actions she undertakes in their name. I didn’t lose a damn thing in Germany.


4 posted on 03/19/2017 7:04:25 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: KyCats
"There is no debit account at NATO,"

There is now, sweetie.

5 posted on 03/19/2017 7:07:04 AM PDT by kanawa (Trump Loves a Great Deal)
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To: KyCats

Leaving Europe for a short period of time may be a good start, but it will surely engender mischief from the Kremlin and other sketchy characters. What should have happened was that we should have allowed Patton to push the Soviets back to their border, erasing Europe from a future of the Iron Curtain. But no, others seemed to think they knew better.


6 posted on 03/19/2017 7:08:36 AM PDT by tenthirteen
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To: KyCats

The expression on Merkel’s face during her meeting with Trump pretty much telegraphed this message during her visit. Pure hatred. Our future relationship with Germany is sure to be problematic.


7 posted on 03/19/2017 7:13:38 AM PDT by JimSEA
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To: KyCats

His speech stated specifically what he was talking about.

Britain agrees - They owe money.

Also, I think it’s time to retire the word “Slam”


8 posted on 03/19/2017 7:15:52 AM PDT by Celerity
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To: KyCats

funny how the media shrugged its shoulders when obama threatened Great Brtian:

If Obama ever questioned whether America really is the world’s one indispensable nation, he no longer does so. But he is the rare president who seems at times to resent indispensability, rather than embrace it. “Free riders aggravate me,” he told me. Recently, Obama warned that Great Britain would no longer be able to claim a “special relationship” with the United States if it did not commit to spending at least 2 percent of its GDP on defense. “You have to pay your fair share,” Obama told David Cameron, who subsequently met the 2 percent threshold.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/


9 posted on 03/19/2017 7:18:12 AM PDT by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: JimSEA

I believe we have close to 100,000 troops in Europe with about 40% of those being stationed in Germany.

Let’s bring those Germany based troops home immediately.

Then we’ll sit down and talk with our NATO allies about where this alliance is headed and who’s going to be paying for the defense of Europe in the future.


10 posted on 03/19/2017 7:18:31 AM PDT by KyCats
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To: KyCats

During the recent troubles in Mali , W. Africa, Germany requested the US send troops to defend their embassy from attack. They claimed they had none available to deploy.


11 posted on 03/19/2017 7:22:05 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: KyCats

That is very possibly where we are heading but our bases in Germany also benefit us in providing some implicit warning to Putin. Far better that the other Europeans and German people realize what Merkel is doing to them. Islam is firmly entrenched in Europe and Germany has led the way. What a mess.


12 posted on 03/19/2017 7:28:02 AM PDT by JimSEA
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To: KyCats

Give Merkel and her commie buddies NO SUPPORT OR PROTECTION and watch the cockroaches scurry. It is simple — just make her pay for NATO protection. Her attitude and that of the other commie states will change.


13 posted on 03/19/2017 7:35:18 AM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: KyCats

I didn’t see it here but the Washington Post reported approvingly that the Germans claimed that they spend more than 2% because their welfare benefits to Muslim invaders is “security” spending.
Padded-cell levels of delusion and arrogance all around.


14 posted on 03/19/2017 7:36:05 AM PDT by fluorescence
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To: KyCats

Merkel goes out and does everything she can to jeopardize the safety and integrity of her people and then wants us to pay for Germany’s protection?


15 posted on 03/19/2017 7:37:15 AM PDT by mom.mom (...our flag was still there.)
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To: JimSEA
Our future relationship with Germany is sure to be problematic.

And let it so...

Germany is the biggest supporter of the European Union which brought open borders, a dictatorship by faceless bureaucrats, and cultural stagnation to that continent.

Germany must be stood up to. They may not like it, but historically they've lacked good judgement.

Obama was Merkel's best friend: very poor judgment. Trump is standing up to the woman who has brought great instability to the free world.

16 posted on 03/19/2017 7:37:27 AM PDT by poconopundit
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To: KyCats

They owe us for East Germany, that’s half


17 posted on 03/19/2017 7:40:04 AM PDT by dila813 (Voting for Trump to Punish Trumpets!)
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To: KyCats

It’s also America’s navy that provides overall protection for international shipping. Many European countries send billions of dollars of property on ocean going vessels bound for foreign lands. But for a powerful naval presence, pirates would again seek their share of the trade. The US should insist on compensation. Barring that, they could let it be known that “X” unpaying country’s exports will not receive US naval protection.


18 posted on 03/19/2017 7:41:24 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (If a border fence isn't effective, why is there a border fence around the White House?)
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To: KyCats

pull our bases out, pull our money out

I trust Putin running Germany more than I trust Merkel.

And I’m a Hungarian. My family lived under the soviets, the Russians are NOT the soviets.

The Germans are once again the greatest threat to the world. NOT the Russians.


19 posted on 03/19/2017 7:41:26 AM PDT by Bubba Gump Shrimp (A Liberal is someone who cannot accept that there is a Law of Unintended Consequences)
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To: KyCats

If France elects Le Pen and Britain leaves the EU they’ll be talking about getting the whole WW2 band back together.


20 posted on 03/19/2017 7:42:11 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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