Trump embraces NATO

In what is becoming a reoccurring theme in Washington as President Donald Trump continues to be swallowed up by the will of the establishment, the commander-in-chief is walking back previous criticisms of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATO, Trump had complained as recently as late last year, is an “obsolete” organization whose member nations routinely fail to pay their “fair share,” leaving the U.S. to handle the bulk of the world’s problems.

On the campaign trail Trump was often critical of NATO allies who rely on U.S. military support but who infrequently make efforts to “reasonably reimburse” the nation for its help.

The president sent the political and media establishments into frenzy last summer when he offered that U.S. aid to NATO allies under a Trump administration would be contingent on whether they “fulfill their obligations to us.”

Pro-NATO Trump critics have since argued that U.S. failure to go along with treaty organization would threaten a dominance the West has enjoyed since the organization’s inception in 1949.

But when they talk about western dominance, what they really mean is U.S. world policing.

Following a demonstration of his willingness to continue U.W. world policing in Syria, Trump is now softening his stance on NATO.

The secretary-general and I had a productive discussion on what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism,” he said during a Wednesday press conference.

The president added: “I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. I said [NATO] was obsolete. It’s no longer obsolete.”

To his credit, the president did reiterate calls for member nations to up their contributions to the NATO alliance. But his newly-found respect for the organization and its goals is a signal that the foreign policy positions you heard from candidate Trump will likely bear little resemblance to the agenda that will emerge from the White House over the next few years.

The post Trump embraces NATO appeared first on Personal Liberty®.