There is a widespread misperception that Japan pays us nothing.
They pay NOTHING DIRECTLY to our troops, of course, however it’s true that Home Base Support from Japan is higher than almost any other country.
They pay about HALF of all US expenditures.
I Looooooooove Trump, but here is a warning:
Japanese faith in the truth of US promises about protection is maybe lower than it has ever been, for pretty good reasons.
It is my very wild guess, but I’d say if Trump suddenly commands Japan to pay ALL..?
There might be a good chance they’d ask the US to leave completely. NOT as punishment, but simply cuz they’d want to have *TOTAL* faith in whatever defenses that followed.
Japan does not DESERVE armed US defense —I absolutely don’t view it as a RIGHT of any non-US country— but I don’t think they appreciate the view, repeated VERY often recently, that they PAY NOTHING.
They do not pay nothing, and for some reason our people DO periodically rape and kill theirs.
We’d be super pissed, too and we NEED to get through this cuz I think a shooting war in the Pacific with China is somewhat likely in the next 5 or so years.
Without US help Japan miiiight lose that war, and without Japan’s help there is little reason for such an active USN patrolling presence so close to China.
“Japan does not DESERVE armed US defense —I absolutely don’t view it as a RIGHT of any non-US country— but I don’t think they appreciate the view, repeated VERY often recently, that they PAY NOTHING.”
Fine, so they pay some of the cost.
From now on, they have to pay for everything, plus a little extra for all our trouble.
And guess what? Sailors drink, and get rowdy on Saturday nights. That’s part of the cost.
If that’s not acceptable, then we leave.
The Japanese are pretty resourceful when they have to be. I was on Okinawa when the NORKs fired a missile that went over Okinawa, 98 I think. It took everyone by surprise and the Japanese realized they could not relay on the US for intelligence on China Or the Norks. With in a very short period of time the Japanese launched their own spy satellites.