Posted on 07/08/2018 1:49:15 AM PDT by granada
US President Donald Trump is heading to Europe next week amid concerns he could reach agreements with Russian President Vladimir Putin that are not coordinated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Peter Beyer, the transatlantic coordinator for Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition, told a German newspaper chain that NATO states had not been included in the planning for the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, which has alarmed many in the defense bloc.
The allies’ worries and Moscow’s hopes are rooted in Trump’s combative approach to foreign policy, the Washington Post said in a report on Friday, quoting a senior administration official who said that in recent days Trump has told senior aides that he wants to slash US spending on Europe’s defense if the allies are unwilling to contribute more to NATO.
Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference and a former German envoy to Washington, hinted at the possibility that Trump could refuse to sign a communique at next week's NATO summit in Brussels, mirroring what he did at the G7 summit.
"It cannot be ruled out," Ischinger told the German newspaper Die Welt in an interview published on Saturday.
Christian Lindner, head of the pro-business Free Democrats, told Deutschlandfunk in an interview that he did not trust Trump, and his actions on trade and in the security arena were not in the United States' long-term interest.
"He is too volatile ... Within 24 hours, Mr. Trump can change his position by 180 degrees," said Lindner, although he warned against growing anti-American sentiments given that the United States was and would remain Germany's closest ally.
Lindner called for Europe to take a united stance as the world's largest single economic zone, providing a counterweight to Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.cgtn.com ...
We need to get out of NATO and make these idiots pay their own bills.
If German officials are concerned, it must be a good thing. I’d think we could make better deals with Russia than what NATO “friendship” is costing us. And we don’t pay for Russia’s military.
Here here!
And the ‘Nordstream 2’ German-Russia pipeline deal would be a slap to America’s face if completed.
We should move our troops to Poland instead.
The geopolitical landscape of europe is being shaped by access to natural gas and to a lesser extent, liquid petroleum. Toss in the largest known diaspora of refugees in recorded history and you got a real mess.
Combative? Firm is more like it....a firm parent rather than the negligent parent of the last 40+ years. Getting along without the USA largess/welfare is hard to do.
Hey, more Russian collusion!
Mueller needs to investigate some more because the Germans are upset now.
eff off Germany, US is NATO. NATO’s junior partners are not in charge of anything.
Why do we still have NATO?
> We need to get out of NATO and make these idiots pay their own bills. <
The withdrawals should have begun in 1989, right after the Berlin Wall fell.
Anyone can read the tea leaves....No matter what she says...Merkel and Putin are good buds.
I see. EU states and the EU can reach agreements with Moscow that are “not coordinated with NATO” but the U.S. cannot?
Hey Merk, maybe your cheap ass country should pay for its defence instead of having the U.S.A. Do such ya welfare queen.
When it comes to Merkel and Krauts...my “give-a-damn” is busted.
If the Germans feel that they are under such a dire threat, how come they are only willing to devote such a minuscule portion of their budget to defense? They need to put up or shut up.
Relax, Wolfie. They’re not shaking hands at the Elbe River this time out.
Nice picture of two folks who worked to maintain communism in East Germany.
What isn’t clear is whether the Frau ever had direct instruction from the Dresden KGB station chief.
So the suicidal Germans are concerned?
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