UPDATE:
Here is a piece from Defense News confirming in non-verse form some of Trump’s misleading talking points and mischaracterizations on our NATO partners’ alleged reluctance to increase defense budgets and NATO contributions.
Original Post:
It is not a secret that Trump is dishonest and untrustworthy.
Fact checkers document such: As of July 9, the Washington Post’s “Fact Checker’s Database” had tallied 20,055 false or misleading claims made by Trump since he assumed the presidency.
Polls say so: The latest Pew Research Center poll comparing Trump’s and Biden’s honesty and trustworthiness gave Biden a 12-point advantage in the “honesty category.” Asked about honesty, in a June Quinnipiac University poll voters say 61 – 35 percent that Trump is not honest.
Books have been written about it. One of the more recent ones: “Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President’s Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies.”
In numerous op-eds, letters, commentaries, etc., hundreds — if not thousands — of prominent Democrats and Republicans, senior officials, former Trump cabinet members, campaign and administration officials have commented on Trump’s (lack of) trustworthiness and competence.
His niece, Mary Trump, has said so. She also wrote and entire book about it.
And now we hear that Trump’s own sister, retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, believes Trump has no principles, can’t be trusted, lies. “The lying. Holy shit” one hears her say.
Trump’s lies run the gamut, from unnecessary, petty lies and exaggerations to whoppers on critical domestic issues (such as the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effects on our citizens and our economy) and on national security and foreign policy.
One national security/foreign policy issue on which Trump repeatedly and doggedly misleads, exaggerates (“claims too much credit”) or just plain lies about is the U.S.’ and its allies’ expenditures on and support for NATO — sometimes repeated dozens of times as catalogued in The Washington Post’s data base. Just scroll down at the Post’s article and click on “Foreign Policy,” to read a few.
Business Insider: “President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on the NATO alliance has often been misleading, and he has distorted how the historic alliance is funded and operates.”
Here are the views of a friend, a Vietnam veteran, a former Eisenhower/Bush 1 Republican who worked for the Nixon/Ford White House and who was on the NATO Industrial Advisory Group as a European based U.S. representative:
Trump lies should be publicly rebutted with evidence clear
To highlight his character flaw of dishonesty, as an election draws near
Time to pin him down for his use of bluster and misinformation
How can one trust a proven liar to continue to “lead” this nation?
For example, take his lie about Germany and NATO
He said they don’t pay: that they owe: the open facts say NO
You should expect Trump to know and articulate some basic facts
About the North American Treaty Organization: how it’s funded and acts
This 30 member and 71-year-old key alliance has stood the test of time
But “Deal Maker” Trump, trying to look tough, spreads a false political line.
Plus, once again, he tries to take credit for an Obama accomplishment
It was Obama, in 2014, who led a new NATO funding agreement
A 2% of GDP goal for national defense spending each should offer
All this by 2024, spending it in each country: not into NATO’s coffers
Joint NATO operating costs, call them dues, are shared by all: based on GDP size
The USA is the largest, long ago agreed, in a policy that seems wise
Now the dues are continually adjusted, and the USA’s are coming down
Trump pushed 4% GDP for defense spending, but it remains at 2% when he left town
Now Germany has always paid its NATO dues: It owes nothing: what Trump says is not true!
So, does he say it to look tough? It’s more than that if you look close enough
He vindictively attacked Angela Merkel for repulsing his invitation to the G-7 for his Pal Putin
Then directs removal of some U. S. troops from Germany: Just to put the knife further in
So, should Trump be given another chance?
Given the litany of lies he does advance
No, it’s time to focus on his serial perjury
Before he causes the USA even more injury
CODA:
On September 5, 2014, the heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledged to increase their defense spending to 2 percent of their gross domestic products by 2024…It is unrealistic to assume that this goal will ever be reached by all 28 allies [now 30], and yet the 2 percent metric persists—and it has assumed a significance beyond its face value… Serious doubts have been cast over the value of 2 percent as a useful metric…the 2 percent pledge is not a legally binding commitment by NATO’s member states… says very little about a country’s actual military capabilities; its readiness, deployability, and sustainability levels; and the quality of the force that it can field. It also is mum about a country’s willingness to deploy forces and take risks once those forces are deployed…it says nothing about the investment or research and development ratios in the budgets, which are usually counted among the most valuable indicators of whether a country is serious about its defense effort.
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Note: The NATO members’ defense budgets goal is different from and in addition to actual contributions to NATO’s operational budget.
