NATO

J.D. Tuccille: America steps down as the world’s policeman

Anybody clinging to the hope that the United States will continue its post-Second World War role as the world’s policeman without major changes was likely disabused of that notion during the tumultuous Feb. 28 White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Perhaps the most astonishing part of that clash was that Trump was — for him — relatively restrained. Vice-President J.D. Vance seemed determined to derail the meeting and Zelenskyy apparently came looking for a fight. In the end, it was clear that, going forward, the United States government will assist other countries on its own terms, and only if there’s something to be gained.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, EU, Europe, NATO, USA

Trump issues stark new warning to NATO allies: ‘If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them’

President Donald Trump warned NATO allies on Thursday that if they don’t pay up, the U.S. won’t come to their defense if they’re attacked.

The president, since his first term, has pushed for other members of the alliance to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.

Now he’s threatening to change U.S. policy when it comes to NATO’s Article Five – which states if one member is attacked, all countries in the alliance must respond – if they don’t pony up.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO, President Trump

Could Trump Exit the North Atlantic Treaty — or Just Declare That Article V Isn’t a Suicide Pact?

Fear is growing in Western capitals that President Trump will yank America out of the North Atlantic Treaty. An untested law, enacted in 2022, requires an act of Congress or approval by the Senate before such a move, but the 1949 treaty includes a loophole to abandon the alliance regardless.

“Get us out of NATO,” the Utah Republican, Senator Lee, wrote Saturday on X. In a December post, he called the alliance “a great deal — for Europe,” responding to a graph showing that America pays 70.5 percent of the alliance’s total.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO, USA

Elon Musk Suggests America Should Leave NATO as the Alliance’s Members Rally to Zelensky During London Summit

Elon Musk is calling on America to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization altogether following President Trump’s public fight with President Zelensky in the Oval Office, which led many of the alliance’s leaders to reaffirm their support for Ukraine. Neither Mr. Trump nor Vice President Vance are attending the European summit of NATO leaders at London this week.

Late Saturday night, Mr. Musk wrote on his social media platform X that America should exit the alliance, which includes 30 European countries, Canada, and the United States.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", NATO, WTF?

Former Nato commander warns end of alliance could be ‘days away’

Nato could be in its final days, a former Supreme Allied Commander has warned, as America’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance wavers.

Admiral James Stavridis, who served as Nato’s Europe commander from 2009-2013, said we could be witnessing the “last days” of the alliance and the start of a new “European Treaty Organisation”.

Donald Trump’s insistence on European leaders increasing their defence budgets, combined with his falling out with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, has sparked concern among members of the alliance.

NATO Secretary General calls for Zelensky to ‘restore relationship’ with Trump following Oval Office clash

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on March 1 for President Volodymyr Zelensky to mend relations with U.S. President Donald Trump following a tense exchange in White House a day prior.

Zelensky left Washington early without signing a mineral deal with the United States following a tense argument in front of journalists between the two leaders. Trump later reportedly ordered his officials to tell the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House, despite protest from the Ukrainians.

Speaking to the BBC, Rutte said that it was “important that President Zelensky finds a way to restore his relationship with the American president and with the senior American leadership team.”

h/t XC

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", NATO, President Trump

The end of the transatlantic alliance

Europe has lost its way

There is no longer any doubt that Europe and America are parting ways. The death of the transatlantic relationship was foretold many times, but at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, it finally ended.

The great American-European divorce has played out in three areas — Ukraine, free speech, and trade. Last week, Donald Trump blindsided the Europeans with his announcement of peace talks with Vladimir Putin. (He said he would do this during his election campaign, but Europe’s leaders were clearly not paying attention.) Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, told the Europeans on Saturday that they will not be included in high-level peace negotiations.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, NATO, USA

U.S. says all NATO members should meet 2% defence spending target by June

The White House said Thursday that it expects all NATO members to be spending at least two per cent of their GDP on defence by the alliance’s next summit — four months from now.

The demand further ramps up pressure on allies like Canada — which has long missed the spending target and doesn’t plan to meet it for another seven years — from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is pushing for drastic defence spending increases and reducing reliance on U.S. security.

Goodbye NATO?

‘NATO Is Dead’ Might Be an Overstatement, but Markets Are Behaving as If It Were True

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inNATO

Europe’s Leaders, Dazed by an Ally Acting Like an Adversary, Recalculate

Faced with undisguised hostility from the Trump administration, Europeans are preparing for what is shaping up to be a go-it-alone era.

For years, European leaders have fretted about reducing their dependence on a wayward United States. On Monday, at a hastily arranged meeting in Paris, the hand-wringing gave way to harried acceptance of a new world in which Europe’s most powerful ally has begun acting more like an adversary.

President Trump’s plan to negotiate a peace settlement in Ukraine with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, with neither the Ukrainians nor Europeans invited to take part, has forced dazed leaders in capitals like Berlin, London and Paris to confront a series of hard choices, painful trade-offs and costly new burdens.

So the emerging consensus narrative is to smear President Trump’s administration as “adversarial” for asking fellow NATO members to pony up their fair share if they want a seat at the table.

No pay no play was inevitable and they’ve known it for years.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, NATO, President Trump, USA

Trump Admin Tells Europeans to List Troops Available for Ukraine: Report

The Trump administration has reportedly called on European nations to outline the number of troops and weapons they are willing to commit to a peacekeeping force in Ukraine amid growing complaints from the continent of being sidelined from negotiations.

According to German broadcaster NTV, Washington has told Berlin and other European capitals to complete a questionnaire detailing the strength of their potential military commitments to Ukraine.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", NATO, USA

Once a ‘crass mathematical calculation,’ NATO’s spending target is now an article of faith for Liberals

NATO’s two per cent defence spending target, derided only last summer as a “crass mathematical calculation” by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was feverishly embraced this week by the Liberal leadership hopefuls vying to replace him.

The statements represent a remarkable conversion for the governing party, which has looked upon the gross domestic product goal — even under intense allied pressure and the occasional public shaming — as arbitrary and meaningless.

“We’ve always questioned the two per cent as the be-all, end-all of evaluating contributions to NATO,” Trudeau said last July in Washington — after meeting with allied leaders and leading U.S. lawmakers and after belatedly committing to reach the benchmark by 2032.

Liberals lie.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, NATO

Weasel NATO members lead by Germany considering war against USA should Trump attempt to seize Greenland

Nato countries discuss sending troops to Greenland after Trump threats

Nato countries have discussed deploying troops to Greenland in response to Donald Trump threatening to use the US military to seize the Danish island.

Germany was among dozens of European allies understood to have held informal talks over “what Nato troops would do” if the US president followed through on his threats, diplomatic sources told The Telegraph.

Questions were even raised over whether Article 5, the Western military alliance’s mutual defence clause, could be invoked in the event of an American invasion of a fellow Nato member state.

H/T XC

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inGermany, Germany: Not Bombed Enough?, Greenland, NATO, President Trump, USA

‘Trump is right’, NATO chief reacts to US claims on Greenland

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed with US President Donald Trump regarding Greenland, particularly on the issue of defense, Bild reports.

“When it comes to defense in the Arctic, Trump is right. What I think is very good is that the Prime Minister of Denmark immediately began negotiations with President Trump. Essentially, it was about the high relevance of defense in the far north,” he said.

H/T Mauser

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inGreenland, NATO, President Trump, USA