Consecutive US administrations - well before Trump - has been pushing NATO-members to invest more in their defence budgets, so that's nothing new.
The new aspect was that Trump - being a moron - did this openly, while also questioning the very value of NATO - and whether the US under him would honor its commitments under the NATO charter.
Like the idiot he is, he was treating NATO as an American protection racket where instead of allies he saw customers he could extort for money.
Which all just fed Putins appetite and conviction that NATO was crumbling from the inside and wouldn't muster a unified response to any aggression of his.
Instead, what several NATO members have done now, is to react to threats - not from a wannabe US despot - but from an actual Russian despot.
It was really lucky Biden won the last election - there is absolutely no telling how Trump would have behaved in this situation.
Mr "inject bleech", "nuke tornadoes", "stare directly into the sun", "Putin's a great guy" etc. would definitely not have been trusted by the world as Biden is now.
Trump would probably have kept blackmailing Zelensky over some imaginary dirt on Hunter Biden - that's how petty and stupid he is.
Regarding your joke it makes no sense in the perspective we're talking about.
You´re trying to threaten me with how a collapsing Russia would make China stronger?
Well who do you think China would go after, after Europe, stupid?
The point remains that however the US might wish it could isolate itself it simply can't.
You're dependent on allies as well and if Europe falls to autocracy the US will be next.
So NATO isn't some gift to Europe - it's as much in Americas interest to keep Europe free and allied.
That's what you "Murcia First!"-people never get.
The US contributed almost nothing in manpower and casualties in the two world wars you where dragged into (despite doing your best to avoid them), and the wars you've been involved in since have seen even fewer casualties, of course.
You've never experienced a major war on your own territory.
And trust me - you don't want to fight the next war on your own soil.
Every nation in Europe has - at some point in our long history.
And you don't want to see half or more of your population killed.
Every nation in Europe has - at some point in our long history.
America is a teenager as a country - and just as intelligent. Thinking it knows best and dosen't need to listen to the grown-ups any longer.
That's why you do stupid fucking things like Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan - and then you bitch about us not supporting those stupid fucking things more(!).
Before you realize they actually where stupid fucking things - as most of Europe told you all along.
But it's OK - we understand that you're still learning.
It's just frustrating to see you do stupid fucking things, ignoring rational advice, becuse you think you know best when you so clearly don't.
Like it or not - the US and Europe is dependent on one-another - it's just a geopolitical fact.
If either falls the other one will be swallowed by China - or Russia - or maybe India some day.
American isolationism is just a gift to those countries and will only guarantee that a major war ends up being fought in the US one day.
Try reading any analysis of US national security produced in the last century or so, and you'll see.
EDIT:
Timely release of a memoir from an actual expert in diplomacy, Ukraine and Russia:
0
@Dorsai
Consecutive US administrations - well before Trump - has been pushing NATO-members to invest more in their defence budgets, so that's nothing new.
The new aspect was that Trump - being a moron - did this openly, while also questioning the very value of NATO - and whether the US under him would honor its commitments under the NATO charter.
Like the idiot he is, he was treating NATO as an American protection racket where instead of allies he saw customers he could extort for money.
Which all just fed Putins appetite and conviction that NATO was crumbling from the inside and wouldn't muster a unified response to any aggression of his.
Instead, what several NATO members have done now, is to react to threats - not from a wannabe US despot - but from an actual Russian despot.
It was really lucky Biden won the last election - there is absolutely no telling how Trump would have behaved in this situation.
Mr "inject bleech", "nuke tornadoes", "stare directly into the sun", "Putin's a great guy" etc. would definitely not have been trusted by the world as Biden is now.
Trump would probably have kept blackmailing Zelensky over some imaginary dirt on Hunter Biden - that's how petty and stupid he is.
Regarding your joke it makes no sense in the perspective we're talking about.
You´re trying to threaten me with how a collapsing Russia would make China stronger?
Well who do you think China would go after, after Europe, stupid?
The point remains that however the US might wish it could isolate itself it simply can't.
You're dependent on allies as well and if Europe falls to autocracy the US will be next.
So NATO isn't some gift to Europe - it's as much in Americas interest to keep Europe free and allied.
That's what you "Murcia First!"-people never get.
The US contributed almost nothing in manpower and casualties in the two world wars you where dragged into (despite doing your best to avoid them), and the wars you've been involved in since have seen even fewer casualties, of course.
You've never experienced a major war on your own territory.
And trust me - you don't want to fight the next war on your own soil.
Every nation in Europe has - at some point in our long history.
And you don't want to see half or more of your population killed.
Every nation in Europe has - at some point in our long history.
America is a teenager as a country - and just as intelligent. Thinking it knows best and dosen't need to listen to the grown-ups any longer.
That's why you do stupid fucking things like Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan - and then you bitch about us not supporting those stupid fucking things more(!).
Before you realize they actually where stupid fucking things - as most of Europe told you all along.
But it's OK - we understand that you're still learning.
It's just frustrating to see you do stupid fucking things, ignoring rational advice, becuse you think you know best when you so clearly don't.
Like it or not - the US and Europe is dependent on one-another - it's just a geopolitical fact.
If either falls the other one will be swallowed by China - or Russia - or maybe India some day.
American isolationism is just a gift to those countries and will only guarantee that a major war ends up being fought in the US one day.
Try reading any analysis of US national security produced in the last century or so, and you'll see.
EDIT:
Timely release of a memoir from an actual expert in diplomacy, Ukraine and Russia:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/20/lessons-from-the-edge-review-marie-yovanovitch-trump-putin-ukraine