On the Other Hand, When in Brussels...

European leaders hoped President Donald Trump would explicitly endorse NATO’s bedrock collective defense clause during his visit to Brussels on Thursday, after he spent the presidential campaign suggesting it was hollow. He didn’t.

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Baltic countries, in particular, are worried about massing Russian military forces that could overwhelm them, and were hoping for the typical, ironclad U.S. commitment, but left disappointed.

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In a speech at the opening of NATO’s new headquarters, Trump slammed U.S. allies for not spending enough on defense before an uncomfortable-looking audience of fellow heads of state, and in between sparked awkward run-ins with other leaders that underscored strained U.S.-European relations since Trump took office.

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“This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States,” Trump said in a speech. “And many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years and not paying in those past years,” he said yet again. (Of course, as Trump has had explained to him countless times, countries don’t pay any dues to NATO, as they do to organizations like the U.N., so it’s unclear what he is talking about.)

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Currently, only five of NATO’s 28 members — the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Estonia, and Greece — meet the alliance’s benchmark of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense.

  Foreign Policy

Greece? Jeez, they can hardly feed themselves these days. Couldn't they get a discount?

“We should recognize that with these chronic underpayments and growing threats, even 2 percent of GDP is insufficient to close the gaps in modernizing, readiness, and the size of forces,” [Trump] said.

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After the speech and some tense run-ins with his peers, Trump and the other NATO leaders gathered for a photo op on stage, while leaders mingled and chatted with one another. No NATO leaders were seen approaching Trump to speak with him on his way out.

NO, and Macron and Merkel were in a friendly huddle together and with others every time the camera was on them.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.