No shove, but Trump body language speaks to frosty relations during NATO events

Trump is not a likable person but his policies are helping the world economy. Not classy or likable at all I agree with that. Some of my best bosses were not likable but effective.

I'm no Russophile, but I feel the pipeline is a good idea - as much as it ties Germany to Russia, it also ties Russia to Europe (it's not like Germany would be treated like Ukraine, which received gas at a discount so as to ensure loyalty - see how that worked out. Germany would pay the full bill and have LPG options if Russia tried to pull that card - which they wouldn't once addicted to that Western cashflow.)

But Trump is a bull in a china shop. It's not just what he says, it's how he says it. A psychiatrist friend of mine (not psychologist - she studies brain physical issues) suggests Trump has an aspergers-related syndrome. He is not normal.

@Laguna - setting aside the way the article is written I would generally agree with your comment about the pipeline. This could actually lead to an improvement in relationships. The U.S.S.R. has long been dissolved and is not likely coming back. There is little or no chance Germany or other EU states will be treated like the Ukraine as they have an European Union behind them. I think Trump (or his advisers) has this one wrong.

I still stand by my comment about the media bias against Trump. There are plenty of tangible things he says or does to discredit and if reports stuck to reporting (actors stuck to acting, etc.) things would be much better.

Trump's obsessed with everybody's military spending but one doubts these other advanced nations want to be more like the US, where roughly 1/3 of the federal budget goes to an already bloated Defense budget. The US maintains some 900 overseas military bases and has endless funding for military misadventures, but Flint still has polluted drinking water and thousands of Puerto Ricans are STILL without power; 25% of of our children live in poverty, medical bills bankrupt families, infrastructure is crumbling, college educations cost more than mortgages, public lands are sold the highest bidder or exploited by the most generous campaign "donors", and our legislators are owned by the uber-wealthy.

Trump attacking NATO benefits one country: RUSSIA.

So if Trump is all about benefiting Russia, why would he publicly be shaming Germany for their 21 billion dollar gas purchases from....Russia? You know, the primary enemy of NATO?

Wouldn’t that be messing up Russia’s sweetheart deal and taking money out of the pockets of his oligarch masters?

Yeah, well, Tokyo-engr, Trump used to employ pseudonyms when calling reporters himself in attempts to garner more positive coverage. Meanwhile, two years after retiring from public service, Hillary Clinton continues to receive a statistically significant amount of coverage on Fox.

So cry me a river. There exist a multitude of reasons why Trump deserves bad news coverage.

@blackla why would he publicly be...

That is an excellent question. Trump's so all over the map he's off it, lending credence to those who've long claimed he's emotionally and intellectually unstable.

Another perspective is he's stable and on top of things, using his power to undermine the US at home and abroad, which after all was one of the things his supporters have wanted all along. They've claimed they want the US establishment brought down. But have proposed nothing to replace it.

Dependency on Russia is not a wise strategy so Trump is reminding Germany that the US has oil (for sale) too.

Other nations like the U.K. also look east for fuel and last winter Russia kept the U.K. running with extra exports.

Also, why would Trump warm to Merkel?

She’s an extreme socialist.She causes chaos with ill defined and poorly implemented immigration policies.

She has muzzled the German press with draconian laws and punishments.

Trump needs to stand back from that one....

Trump is not a likable person but his policies are helping the world economy. Not classy or likable at all I agree with that. Some of my best bosses were not likable but effective.

The thread is about the NATO and how is Trump helping the world economy exactly ? :)

'Germany is under control of Russia'

Stand-up Comedy in Brussels :)

https://youtu.be/QahxjOjltXY

So if Trump is all about benefiting Russia, why would he publicly be shaming Germany for their 21 billion dollar gas purchases from....Russia? 

Because its only shaming. Its not like he is cancelling the deal or even can, its not like Germany won't allow the pipeline to go through.

By slamming Germany, he is calling into question the very necessity of NATO. That is exactly what a Putin puppet would do.

This is absurd:

Trump ... opened Wednesday with another broadside against Merkel, asserting that her country is "totally controlled" and "captive" to Russia

This is too:

That is exactly what a Putin puppet would do.

You can argue against virtually everything Trump is attempting to do without making yourself look ridiculous by saying the POTUS is in thrall to a foreign despot. Get serious.

The Russian pipeline to Germany that Trump is so mad about, explained.

So Trump wants Germany to impose more sanctions on Russia, while he wants to end American sanctions on them, and let them keep Crimea?!

When is America going to realize that their President is Bonkers?!

Trump ... opened Wednesday with another broadside against Merkel, asserting that her country is "totally controlled" and "captive" to Russia

Ha ha ha! Swap Germany with USA, and you get the true picture! What an a-hole this man-child is. A lovely welcoming party awaits him in the UK.

The dangerous embarrasment by the name of Donald J. Trump acted like the drama queen that he is.

He is the main obstacle to the world’s wellbeing and the biggest threat to U. S. national security.

@Laguna: "Trump used to employ pseudonyms when calling reporters himself in attempts to garner more positive coverage". You are absolutely correct in this statement. However rather than continuing the decline into the bowels of repugnance the media could choose to focus on real issues and there are plenty of things to target.

Unfortunately the U.S. is becoming more divided and U.S. politics and the coverage thereof becomes more disgusting every day.

Whether you like him or not, Trump has been remarkably successful at one thing, which is dominating the news cycle. If that's his strategy, then he's certainly "winning." The problem is, America is losing.

For years, the U.S. allowed cheap Chinese imports of consumer goods, which sold via big-box stores like Target and Walmart helped to keep a cap on inflation. Wait and see what happens when supplies dry up.

Trump's views and positions on trade, diplomacy and military alliances seem to be vestiges of the situation in the mid-1980s, between the Japanese bubble and the collapse of the Soviet Union and reunification of Germany. That suggests he hasn't read a newspaper or learned anything new in the last 30 years.

NATO

And now we have an American president with guts . . . that tells it like it is.

And now we have an American president with guts . . . that tells it like it is.

Reminds me of what American soldiers used to say about Gen. George S. Patton, who they referred to as "Old Blood and Guts" --- as in "your blood and his guts."

Trump baby strikes again.

He always looks like a petulant toddler in photos of such meetings.

Trump seems to like accusing others of what only he is guilty of - typical unhinged and manipulative behaviour.

And now we have an American president with guts .

Well, he certainly has a gut.

The comment illustrated how Trump often seeks to avoid conflict with people when he is face to face with them versus the often-harsher rhetoric he uses when he's talking behind their back.

He really is a huge coward.

During moments that were visible to the press, Trump often separated himself from most of his counterparts, particularly those with whom he has had public disagreements, such as British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

What a wimp. Give him a dunce cap and a candycane

His poor wife, having to pretend her husband didn't pay for sex, then dragged to Europe as an appendage. Only to watch him shrink when amongst world leaders, behaving irrationally. London is ready for him, big balloon and protests unseen since Thatcher days. He really should not travel beyond the trailer park fence.

His poor wife, having to pretend her husband didn't pay for sex,

How would you know what their private lives are or what they’re thinking?

then dragged to Europe as an appendage. Only to watch him shrink when amongst world leaders, behaving irrationally.

Shrink?? He told him bold face right to their faces, I wouldn’t hold it shrinking, I will collect having a pair of brass ones.

London is ready for him, big balloon and protests unseen since Thatcher days. He really should not travel beyond the trailer park fence.

OK, so they fly a big stupid balloon and then what?

How would you know what their private lives are or what they’re thinking?

While I can't get into her head to hear her thoughts, I think its safe to infer that she probably isn't thrilled that her husband was having an affair with a pornographic actress just days after she had given birth to their son.

OK, so they fly a big stupid balloon and then what?

Trump runs away from London to go play golf in Scotland because he is a deeply flawed person who can't stand criticism, especially in baby balloon form?

Oh... I touched a nerve. His lawyer admitted to the payment for sex. Her body language? They don't share a bedroom, well known. Admitadly I know little of his welcome in London. But British people don't suffer fools, from past history there will be more than 1 expressing there frustration.

NATO leaders will not bother to deal with a child torturer, which they consider utterly abhorrent.

Trump is correct, the dedicated gas pipeline between Russia and Germany is a deal with the devil. Once completed, Russian will have total control of the energy which powers Europe. Leftist will say that this will not happen because Russia can be trusted. Wasn't it just recently when Russia shut off the existing pipeline which runs through the Ukraine to teach the Ukranians a lesson?

As for NATO, only 5 members of the 29 members alliance are spending 2% of their GDP on their military. Other U.S. presidents have noted this but Trump is making an issue of it. You would have thought that Germany one of the most successful member in the alliance was meeting its financial obligation. However, it has been reported that the majority of the air force is grounded and their infantry had to use broomsticks for simulated rifles in a military exercise.

It isn't too much to ask the Euro folks to pony up at least 2% of GDP to defend themselves. If they can't rouse themselves to at least that extent, then there really is no hope for them. Last report I read, the German Luftwaffe could only field 12 combat ready aircraft in the event of an emergency! They have let themselves go and depended on Uncle Sugar for too long.

Granted there is no guarantee that the money would be spent wisely. However, if Europe won't defend itself, why should anyone else? If they can't stop an invasion of unarmed starving refugees, what chance do they have against the Russian Army...everyone agrees that Putin is a monster, yet they don't take him seriously enough to defend against him.

I wouldn't blame the US for simply getting out of NATO entirely. Let Europe take care of Europe. A sharper organization of countries in the Anglosphere would be leaner, meaner, and more effective.

So many posters are stuck back in the Cold War era.

In fact, Russia could easily decimate any country on earth at present,;it hasn’t and won’t!

NATO is a Cold War relic, not needed in the 21st century.

Why should the US pay for it at all?Why not disband it?

Wars are not fought on battlefields anymore.

Trump sitting apart or folding his arms is hardly relevant to the funding of NATO by the American tax payer.

Again, President Trump is constantly reviewing old systems and groups that may no longer have relevance in the 21st century.

The American voters should feel proud!

@clayton Leftist will say that this will not happen because Russia can be trusted. 

20 years behind the times, Clayton. Russia is right wing. Putin claims to be a 'conservative'. He and his followers in Russia, the US and other places have been using all forms of media, including this site, to attack liberals/the left/socialists/dems, i.e. people they consider enemies.

And now we have an American president with guts . . . that tells it like it is.

Cult mentality right there folks. And the cult's name is Trump.

As a fellow American citizen I'll inform you directly, The world will not go the way you think it will just because Trump's arrogant bluster makes the US "look tough". It's making it worse for our country in the long run just because you think "acting tough" via the old 80's cliché tough guy films like Rambo etc... Movies are not real life. But you're going to learn the hard way. Just wish your choices (and Trump's) weren't taking those of us who don't follow such stupidity with you...

Last time America presumed a independent philosophy...Pearl Harbour. Before that the Listeria. Both incidents drew America into what is now called World Wars. Currently the longest war in American history is on going in Afganistn of all places. Wiggling out of that is problematic. Being accomading to friends is a normal action. That's obviously not what is happening here.

the German Luftwaffe could only field 12 combat ready aircraft in the event of an emergency! ..... If they can't stop an invasion of unarmed starving refugees, what chance do they have against the Russian Army

You think the correct way to deal with refugees and immigrants is combat ready aircraft??

Is that in addition to snatching their babies, or instead of?

"But you're going to learn the hard way. Just wish your choices (and Trump's) weren't taking those of us who don't follow such stupidity with you..."

The great majority of the American people that elected Trump with our Electoral College, to Americas highest office, the Presidency of the United States of America will not agree with this insulting remark of being called stupidity.

The Trump haters are at it again. Trump is rightly telling NATO members that are not paying their share- pay up!

The NATO countries simply have to decide if they want to be real allies with the USA or fall under some type of protectorate. You cant ask for protection then go make billion dollar self serving business deals with the country you claim to want to be "protected" from.

Trump lingered behind and mostly spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Getting tips on how to manipulate an already pliant electorate, no doubt.

O, America, America. What have you done?

You even smile and dance about it like a naughty toddler who's wet their pants.

NATO should withdraw all support for the US on its evil excursions abroad.

Well then Zichi no big deal if that 1.2% goes to zero, eh? Why would the Europeans react so strongly? Basically a rounding error in the big picture.

Or perhaps, your figures are a bit misleading...

As for weapons expenditures, the Europeans buy their own hardware- Tornado jets, Leopard tanks, etc. Not much market for American weapons there. The only European country in the top 15 buyers of US arms is the UK. Sorry, your point is invalid.

Can’t Europe make its own bang bangs and give the finger to the US?

Personally I’m saddened to see the decline of the US this century - which has had a nitrous oxide injection since the election of the Orange Moron - but we can’t continue with a partner that goes insane every time a Republican seizes the whitehouse.

Zichi ;-)

Zichi, I'm trying to figure out your figures on arms sales, could you state your source and clean them up a bit? Mine are from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute. Here is the list of biggest customers for US weapons for the past 10 years:

Briefly, Saudi Arabia and South Korea are over $7 billion each. Australia and UAE are 6.5. The UK is the largest from Europe, in 10th place at $3 billion. Here is the link;

https://www.statista.com/chart/12205/the-usas-biggest-arms-export-partners/

For 2017, the Saudis are first at $3.5 billion. The UK is third at about $700 million. The UK defence budget is about $ 60 billion, so this is a miniscule amount. The next European country is Norway, 13th place, $330 million.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/248552/us-arms-exports-by-country/

So, your premise that the Euros buy a lot of US weapons is wrong.

"Personally I’m saddened to see the decline of the US this century."

This statement, makes me laugh.

The truth is, in this century, America is on an incline with an increase in jobs. increased wages.

I agree with you Ray, at least economically. But I am saddened by the decline in personal freedom, the expansion of the paranoid security state, the militarization of the police, and the devolution of politics into infantile name-calling.

As for weapons expenditures, the Europeans buy their own hardware- Tornado jets, Leopard tanks, etc. Not much market for American weapons there. The only European country in the top 15 buyers of US arms is the UK. Sorry, your point is invalid.

RAF Tornado and Typhoon (British and EU), Challenger tanks, Warrior MICVs (British), helicopters are Augusta-Westland... the only major US equipment we have are the odd missile and those overpriced F35s. Brexiteers won't like it, but we're closer to Europe than Trumpland.

GDP - the target for the GDP spending on defence was by 2024... how many times do people need to be reminded of that? Including the Baby himself.

As for his trip to the UK... I hope the protests are loud, obvious and everywhere. I know when he comes to Scotland he'll get more of the same... we despise the man.

All the NATO countries should appoint one Kiing and Queen to rule over them.

All the NATO countries should appoint one Kiing and Queen

I take it you're not very familiar with monarchies? Kings and Queens don't get 'appointed'.

Payne : This statement, makes me laugh. The truth is, in this century, America is on an incline with an increase in jobs. increased wages

And increased debt into tens of trillions. The fall of Rome is coming. As a trump cult follower you’ll probably enjoy that too!

I take it you're not very familiar with monarchies? Kings and Queens don't get 'appointed'.

To be fair to Fizz the Russians did the monarchy in years ago. Although Don Putin does act like a Czar...

Damn that quote button sucks heanie

Trump is correct, the dedicated gas pipeline between Russia and Germany is a deal with the devil. Once completed, Russian will have total control of the energy which powers Europe. Leftist will say that this will not happen because Russia can be trusted. Wasn't it just recently when Russia shut off the existing pipeline which runs through the Ukraine to teach the Ukranians a lesson?

What cracks me up about the qEuropeans, particularly Germans is that they pay billions to the Russians for gas, but expect us to pay billions to protect them? What? Of course Trump wants Europe to buy gas from us, ween themselves off the very people we are protecting them from.

As for NATO, only 5 members of the 29 members alliance are spending 2% of their GDP on their military. Other U.S. presidents have noted this but Trump is making an issue of it. You would have thought that Germany one of the most successful member in the alliance was meeting its financial obligation. However, it has been reported that the majority of the air force is grounded and their infantry had to use broomsticks for simulated rifles in a military exercise.

Again, the difference is the other Presidents mentioned it, but didn’t push for it, thank God this President is calling them out and telling them, No more free rides. Them days be over.

Even Bush and Obama knew we were getting shafted by the Europeans.

https://youtu.be/BNAKv8AwF1s

Europe, particularly its western countries, are no longer our allies. Until they get into trouble, of course, and they will most certainly call on us to bail them out. NATO is just a way to once again redistribute American funds.

Time is way past due for us to get out of NATO. Its entire point, to protect Europe from the Soviet Union, no longer exists. With the demise of the Soviet Union, NATO is an alliance without a purpose. What's more, President Trump is correct. If Germany depends on Russia for 70 percent of its energy, then what is the point of our protection money to begin with? Time to shut off the money spigot. Let the socialist euro elites find another piggy bank to rob.

Dango: "Not classy or likable at all I agree with that."

I don't agree with that, Trump is refreshingly not politically correct ( "not classy" lol ), and he's quite likeable, just ask anyone other than liberals.

Lol. I love it when Trump kicks over another ant-hill, just sit back and watch everybody go nuts, haha

Trump is refreshingly not politically correct

Mocking the disabled, joking about assaulting women, and perpetuating the most offensive racist stereotypes, is 'refreshing' for you?