Hey. Nice world you got there. Be a shame if, oh, someone was to break it.
Donald Trump seems to have a bit of a problem with the word “ally.” Also with an idea called “strategy.” And he has very little use for that thing called “peace.” While he casually flips out the standard comments about supporting our allies around the world, the idea that supporting an ally requires … support, appears to baffle him. So does the idea that the United States might base military in other nations for our own benefit.
… I've always said, wow, I never understood it. Because they said the United States spends ten times the money on its military than anybody else in the world. And I said, wow, China has a big military, all these -- that's surprising. But, you know. I was building buildings and things. I never really gave it too much thought. And then I realized -- and I remember, I always remember, we spend so much more than anybody else. We're protecting everybody in the world.
Yes. Wow. Trump noticed that the America military is costly and engaged in the role of world policeman. Which seems like the kind of thing that Trump might have learned when he was kicked out of prep school for bad behavior and went off to the New York Military Academy at age 13. But hey, better late then never.
Still, Trump’s shatteringly brilliant revelation that we have a costly military has led him to some … unique ideas about how we might address that issue. Trump doesn’t want to make the military smaller or less costly. In fact, he’s determined that our $600 billion military needs a big boost. Part of both his standard stump speech and his Midnight in America acceptance rampage is the promise to “rebuild our badly depleted military.”
What’s unique is that Trump wants to put the world on a pay for peace plan. Just as he’s going to get Mexico to pay for the wall, Trump is going to make everyone else pay for our military.
I don't want to make a profit. I want cost. Pay us what it costs. Maybe we can't get it. If we can't—see, you have to be prepared to walk. You have to.
You like that peace you’ve been enjoying for the last sixty years? Yeah? Vinnie will be around to collect on Thursday.
After Trump earlier in the week invited Putin to take a bite out of NATO:
… asked about Russia’s threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are among the more recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us.”
It fell to Mike Pence to take up his job as Trump’s trash collector and try to walk back the threat of abandonment.
Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said Thursday the U.S. would "absolutely" defend its NATO allies, contradicting remarks by Donald Trump that he would only do so if they fulfilled their obligations to the U.S.
“We’ll uphold our treaty obligations, including the mutual defense agreement that is NATO,” Pence told PBS NewsHour, referring to the alliance's obligation to defend a member nation if under attack.
But Pence had barely closed the lid before Trump was ready to put a price tag on another alliance.
Japan. They send cars, they make a fortune and then they don't pay us the amount it costs. I don't want to make a profit. I want cost. Pay us what it costs. Maybe we can't get it. If we can't—see, you have to be prepared to walk. You have to. If you're not prepared to walk—Hillary Clinton came out when she heard about what I said about Japan. Japan is a rich nation.
Trump may not have noticed, what with never reading anything but his own publicity clips, but the Japanese aren't universally thrilled with the US presence in their country.
Hundreds of riot police and protesters clashed Friday as construction of U.S. helipads resumed in Okinawa’s Northern Training Area, a key condition for the partial return to Japan of a large parcel of land being used by U.S. forces.
But it’s not just alliances with NATO and Japan that Trump is ready to monetize. There’s no place he’s not ready to send a bill.
Honestly, to understand the insanity of Trump’s statements, you need the full stream of unconsciousness flow.
But we're taking care of other nations, and I want to continue to take care of other nations. There are a lot of good things about that. But they have to pay us. They have to pay us.
I remember years ago, and I've always said, wow, I never understood it. Because they said the United States spends ten times the money on its military than anybody else in the world. And I said, wow, China has a big military, all these -- that's surprising. But, you know. I was building buildings and things. I never really gave it too much thought. And then I realized—and I remember, I always remember, we spend so much more than anybody else.
We're protecting everybody in the world. We're protecting all these nations and these are rich nations. And they're great nations.
Japan. They send cars, they make a fortune and then they don't pay us the amount it costs. I don't want to make a profit. I want cost. Pay us what it costs. Maybe we can't get it. If we can't—see, you have to be prepared to walk. You have to. If you're not prepared to walk—Hillary Clinton came out when she heard about what I said about Japan. Japan is a rich nation. Those cars are flowing in. They're rich because of us. You go to Los Angeles, you see these massive ships. It looks like NASCAR.
By the way, thank you Brian France, owner of NASCAR. He endorsed Donald Trump. I love NASCAR. Richard Petty endorsed me. A lot of the great drivers endorsed me. King Richard.
But they—it's like—it's like these guys driving—it's like Richard Petty—coming out of the boats, these massive ships. And they don't pay us.
And then a general gets up, and the general says, Mr. Trump is wrong. Doesn't he understand? That Japan pays us 50% of the cost of defending them. Oh, great. They say, Mr. Trump, could we have a comment. I say, yeah, why aren't they paying 100%? Right? And Germany. And South Korea. We have 28,000 soldiers. And think of this one. Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia wouldn't be there for one week if we pulled out.
For the last sixty years, the United States has maintained a set of alliances around the world and a robust military presence in many nations. It’s a strategy that has certainly pulled America into conflicts that were far better avoided, and the cost in both treasure and lives has been high. But it’s also delivered on the chief goal of the people who established the strategy following World War II. Chiefly that after an isolated and disengaged America found itself ultimately engaged in World War I and World War II, we still have not had to pull out the number “III.”
There are very good arguments for shrinking America’s international presence, reducing the cost of our military, and working toward a greater shared burden when it comes to maintaining world peace. Democrats have been making those arguments for years.
Donald Trump is not making that argument.
He’s arguing for something that more like Pax Romana than Pax Americana—park the legions on “allies” then make them pony up heavy tariffs for the benefits of “peace.” Come to think of it, the Romans used that strategy to keep their home taxes low while draining wealth from their occupied territories. Maybe Trump did read a history book. Once.
