Posted on 03/21/2016 2:36:29 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
Trump Complains America Leads Too Much, Wants Diminished Role in NATO
Calls America a 'poor country'
Republican front-runner Donald Trump expressed his distaste for how often America takes a leadership role in international affairs on Monday.
Trump was specifically upset with the role the United States plays in NATO.
“Ukraine is a country that affects us far less than it affects other countries in NATO, and yet we’re doing all of the lifting,” Trump told The Washington Post.
“They’re not doing anything. And I say, ‘Why is it that Germany’s not dealing with NATO on Ukraine? Why is it that other countries that are in the vicinity of Ukraine, why aren’t they dealing? Why are we always the one that’s leading, potentially the third world war with Russia.’”
Trump told the paper’s editorial board that the United States could not afford to play the same leadership role in world affairs it has played for decades.
“I do think it’s a different world today, and I don’t think we should be nation-building anymore,” he said. “I think it’s proven not to work, and we have a different country than we did then. We have $19 trillion in debt. We’re sitting, probably, on a bubble. And it’s a bubble that if it breaks, it’s going to be very nasty.
“I just think we have to rebuild our country.”
Trump then said that the United States is not rich anymore and, therefor, can’t afford to maintain its leadership role in the international military partnership.
“We certainly can’t afford to do this anymore,” he told the paper. “NATO is costing us a fortune, and yes, we’re protecting Europe with NATO, but we’re spending a lot of money. South Korea is very rich, great industrial country, and yet we’re not reimbursed fairly for what we do. We’re constantly sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games—we’re reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing.”
Instead, Trump labeled America a poor country.
“I think we were a very powerful, very wealthy country, and we are a poor country now,” he said. “We’re a debtor nation.”
This is a reason to vote for Ted Cruz? Is it supposed to be “conservative” to think that the USA should be a lot more involved in stopping the Russians in Ukraine, when the Germans are doing nothing at all? I did not read of a single shot fired by a Ukrainian in defense of Crimea. Maybe there were shots fired but it never made any news I saw. So the “conservative” position is supposed to involve being more concerned about the defense of Crimea than the Ukrainians were / are? Similarly, we pay far more of our GDP on defense than does any other NATO member even though every one of them is far closer to Russia than we are. We even put more our GDP into defense than do Russia’s near neighbors the Baltics and Poland (which are great countries BTW!) - so once again Trump is correct that we are being asked to do more heavy lifting than the people with a far more immediate self-interest. NATO’s time has come and gone - but like any government program, it is very hard to shut down.
Libertarians for Trump is now a thing: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/03/walter-e-block/libertarians-trump/
Agree.
What “conservative” politician made these statements and signed into law a bill that prohibited open carry?
“Americans don’t go around carrying guns with the idea they’re using them to influence other Americans. There’s no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.”
“Everybody get ready to unload their guns now.”
He also signed a bill that legalized abortion on demand.
In addition, he also signed a bill that legalized millions of illegal aliens.
Guess who.
Europe is kaput.
Reagan’s America was facing Soviet Communism. We are not. The Cold War is over.
What a misleading headline.
This is the primary reason that the neo-con artists are foaming and frothing at the mouth over Trump. They’re afraid that when they inevitably start howling for yet another was in the Middle East, a President Trump might not be so willing to send American men and now women, too, to die in a yet another war that has nothing to do with our own interests.
It’s Pro-Cruz in the sense that Cruz would be a continuation of Neocon Bush foreign policy.
Cruz is no where near Reagan. Cruz is for Bush Republicanism. He is nothing other than what has ruined us for years.
A vote or Cruz is a vote for Bush.
No thank you!
Again, I must have missed something. Did Trump declare that we needed a smaller military and a less secure world?
Yes! Thank you for posting the truth!
If you feel strongly about your future and your country you will fight if not dont look to us to fight your battles
I remember George W. Bush promising in a campaign speech that he would not engage in “nation-building” and using that term specifically.
Times change. Needs change. Circumstances change.
But it would be nice to take care of our own for a while.
Let nations build themselves. They can use our Constitution for a template.
This is a reason to vote for Ted Cruz?
Of course, don’t you get it? If Donald Trump doesn’t want to further bankrupt the country and send troops to die in social experiments cooked up in posh lounges by “conservative” Washington think-tanks, he obviously hates the troops and the military.
I agree with him. It’s past time that the Europeans paid their fair share.
If he proposes leaving the UN, Ill man his phone banks.
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