Donald Trump’s foreign policy decisions are sketchy at best and disastrous at worst. His decision in October 2019 to pull troops from Syria, abandoning the Kurdish forces who helped to quell ISIS alongside American soldiers for several years. In a similar move, Trump has ordered a pullback of troops from Germany, and for the most petty of reasons that make no sense whatsoever.
On Wednesday, Mitt Romney spoke out against the decision, calling it “a gift to Russia and China.” Romney also spoke out against pulling troops from Syria nearly a year ago when few other Republican lawmakers did. Romney posted his condemnation of the move on Twitter as Trump bragged that he pulled troops because Germany hasn’t fully met their two percent contribution to NATO.
According to CNN:
‘Secretary of Defense Mark Esper acknowledged the plan will cost billions to execute when he formally announced the decision on Wednesday from the Pentagon. US defense officials said it will take years to relocate the troops.
‘The plan to pull US troops from the long-time NATO ally has been met with broad bipartisan opposition amid concerns that it will weaken the US military’s position vis a vis Russia, however the Trump Administration has decided to proceed with the move.’
In other words, the decision that Trump made over a missing two percent contribution will cost the United States billions of dollars and could potentially lose the U.S. an ally in upcoming conflicts. The Defense Department insists that the move was not made because of Trump’s insistence over a two percent contribution, but Trump told reporters on Wednesday that it was.
‘”We spend a lot of money on Germany, they take advantage of us on trade and they take advantage on the military, so we’re reducing the force,” he told reporters at the White House.
‘”They’re there to protect Europe, they’re there to protect Germany, and Germany is supposed to pay for it,” Trump added. “We don’t want to be responsible anymore.”‘
Twitter seemed to agree more with Romney, but also expressed their frustration over Congress’s inability to put a check on Trump. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
