At a ceremony on Thursday, a piece of the North Tower of the World Trade Center was installed next to the new NATO headquarters. It was a vivid reminder that the only time the organization has been called on to come through on the Article 5 commitment to defend members was following 9/11. At the height of the conflict in Afghanistan, troops from every NATO partner were involved.
Casualties included 453 troops from the UK, 158 from Canada, 88 from France, 57 from Germany ... and down the line for every member nation. Even NATO candidate nation Montenegro lost a soldier coming to aid the United States when the United States called on NATO. Over 1,000 non-American soldiers from NATO countries died in Afghanistan. So far.
Also on Thursday, Donald Trump came to speak at the dedication of that new memorial. And gave a speech in which he neglected to actually endorse Article 5 while lecturing other world leaders that they should pay up. How did that go?
President Trump, speaking at a ceremony Thursday to dedicate a memorial to NATO’s resolve in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, publicly chastised his fellow alliance leaders for not being “fair” to U.S. taxpayers.
Trump not only repeatedly kicked the NATO allies at a ceremony recalling that the only time the alliance has been called on to carry out its commitment of joint defense was in support of the United States, he also took time out for a snide remark about the cost of the new NATO headquarters and to literally throw his weight around.
"And I never asked what the new NATO headquarters cost, but it is beautiful."
Meanwhile, Angela Merkel breakfasted with someone who got a much more enthusiastic welcome in Germany …
Angela Merkel led the procession of leaders into the field, literally and symbolically taking on the role of the leader of the free world. She spoke about the risks Germany was taking to protect openness and upholding freedom by permitting a large number of refugees to share their nation.
Speaking in a panel discussion on democracy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in front of 70,000 people at a spot where the Berlin wall once stood, Obama spent 90 minutes talking about international and U.S. issues without once mentioning his successor Donald Trump.
Obama got a “rock star” welcome. The reaction to Trump’s failure to endorse Article 5 in his speech … was a lot more rocky.
While this might seem like a small oversight to casual observers, Brookings Institute fellow and top foreign policy scholar Tom Wright said Trump’s refusal to endorse Article 5 has rendered his entire foreign policy trip a “failure.”
“The White House told the NYT yesterday Trump would finally endorse Article 5,” he wrote on Twitter. “The fact that he did not is astonishing and shows that someone in the White House or [Trump] himself took it out. This will come as a huge shock to NATO members.”
Trump’s speech was not only demeaning to the nations that came to help the US when we needed them, it continued to display a basic lack of understanding about how NATO works. But then, ignorance was the least of the problems with Trump’s speech. Somewhere after his belligerent tone, chiding remarks, and generally behaving like a strident jackass.