It never fails. Upon any trip to meet with foreign leaders, Trump will inevitably embarrass the U.S. with his nonsensical rants and ignorance of facts, as well as his utter inability to behave like an adult in front of our allies. From his compliments on French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife’s body to shoving the Prime Minister of Montenegro out of the way for a photo at the G20 Summit, his behavior is just stunning to watch.
Bilateral Breakfast with NATO Secretary General in Brussels, Belgium… pic.twitter.com/l0EP3lzhCM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2018
On Wednesday, Trump met with with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels and pushed inaccuracies about and hostility toward one of our most loyal allies, Germany. As even Trump’s own cabinet stared at their feet in horror, Trump went on a dishonest and ridiculous rant, insisting that Germany is “totally captive to Russia.”
Trump tells NATO that Germany is "totally controlled" by Russia, citing wrong statistics about how much energy the country receives from Putin https://t.co/3Jqhuy1r0l
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 11, 2018
In an antagonistic exchange, Trump had a tantrum about protecting our allies at the bilateral breakfast.
‘How can you be stronger when a country is getting energy from the person you want to protect against?’
Stoltenberg reminded Trump why NATO began in the first place.
‘Because we understand when we stand together we are stronger.’
In an absolutely groan-worthy response, Trump bit out:
‘No, you are just making Russia richer.’
President Trump accused NATO ally Germany of being beholden to Russia because it buys energy from Moscow. "Germany is a captive of Russia," Trump said at a meeting in Brussels. https://t.co/xo16kJe6i3 pic.twitter.com/Vp23J6KkJX
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 11, 2018
Trump failed to note that his attacks on NATO and his threats to pull out of the agreement with our allies falls right in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals. Trump’s next stop after the NATO summit is to meet with Putin in Helsinki.
Trump also insisted, falsely, that Germany imports at least 70 percent of its energy from Russia. CNN reports that Trump’s numbers are far from accurate.
‘Germany imports roughly 94% of its natural gas. In 2015, 35% of imported gas came from Russia, while 34% was sourced from Norway and 29% from the Netherlands.’
NATO may survive four years of Trump’s hostility, but the U.S. will never have the same relationship with the allies who stood with us after 9/11 and throughout the war on terror. Eight years may destroy us entirely.
See the full exchange below:
President Trump: "Germany is a captive of Russia."
Trump and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg discuss plans for the summit before a bilateral breakfast in Brussels. pic.twitter.com/DsT8UfxGvg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 11, 2018
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