Trump isn’t wrong that European NATO countries have needed to increase their defence spending for a long time. It remains to be seen which European NATO countries will actually do so or can: words are easy. (Just call Trump ‘Daddy’ and agree to whatever he says lol before continuing with whatever we intended to do all along anyway!)
Trump and many other Americans in positions of power obviously have been Russian assets to various degrees for a long time now, but the last thing Russia wants is Trump’s actions forcing Europe to spend more on defence, and end their reliance on the US.
Russia would prefer complacent European NATO/EU nations relying on America, who would pull the rug out from under them - similar to what America has done to Ukraine - when Russia was in a position to attack NATO further. I guess the timing just won’t be right for that outcome, unless Trump forces a third term, so Putin will be happy with what he has achieved.
As well as a Russian asset Trump is also just a bit of a moron who doesn’t see the value in the US dollar as global reserve currency. Maybe he sees the rise of China and thinks ‘this is what the US needs to do again. Go back to developing world status and become the world’s factory in order to rise later as China is now’. Trump doesn’t appear have much in the way of strategic thinking. He appears to have an unchangeable very out of date world view, and more he is driven by the pathological impulse to acquire everything he can for himself. The uber-pig.
This return to developing world status would be great for billionaires but not for your average American, never mind brown skinned Americans, women, the poor (ironically Trump’s base I guess), and other minorities.
I suppose with this post I have rendered myself persona-non-grata in the US now for the next several years and probably beyond (once border policies are put in place they don’t change easily). Pity. I like the Americans I have known and always wanted to visit.
It’s a common American view that the other countries weren’t spending “enough”, whereas from the perspective of everyone else on the planet it’s America that’s spending a hugely disproportionate amount of wealth on killing, and just expecting its allies to do the same.
My comment on Europe needing to spend more was simply in terms of the reality of facing down a belligerent Russia.
Americans generally do not seem to understand that their massive military spending is actually in support of and necessary as long as they wanted the dollar as global reserve currency. This doesn’t surprise me and isn’t really a criticism (we have similar issues in the UK). The American people I have come across online appear to have grown up being told they are exceptional, the best, apparently without actually being told the reality of 20th century economic history.
The world was forced to buy oil in dollars due to the arrangement the US made with the Saudis, meaning the world had to buy US debt if it wanted oil. Obviously in this scenario the US print the money other people are borrowing facilitating the transfer of wealth that is coming to an end. When the likes of Saddam Hussein said he was going to sell oil in Euros he got a good ol’ dose of freedom. The 9/11 attackers were Saudis but the US would never touch them due to this arrangement. Anyway, this is why US defence spending has been what it has been. It isn’t the case that the rest of the world should have paid more. In fact the rest of the world paid the US deficit at least in part by this mechanism. Trump is bringing those halcyon days to a premature end intentionally because now he wants the likes of Europe to pay US debts but not get military support lol.
If/when the US doesn’t spend that money on military support of regions like Europe the US are in a sense reneging on their agreement and so they no longer get that global reserve currency status, everybody sells US debt, the dollar is greatly weakened (which might be what Trump wants, in terms of making US made goods affordable for people outside the US, whether misguided or not) and presumably interest rates rise considerably. Moving away from SWIFT and the WTO are 100% unambiguous signals of the EU’s intent to ‘dedollarise’ we have seen in just the last few days.
This reserve currency status is roughly what has given America a large amount of unearned global wealth post ww2, and more or less allowed boomers to buy a home on one wage etc. Changing it is a huge upheaval on US life that will last many decades. Military spending has supported the dollar, Trump is more or less throwing that away.
I’m pretty sure that last decade or so has shown that Europe doesn’t spend enough. It’s not just Russia’s invasion. Military action in Libya was reliant on the US to sustain more than a few days of action.
US: “NATO members need to up their defense spending!”
NATO: “Okay, we’ll do it.”
US: “Actually, We’re leaving NATO.” 🤡
Trump isn’t wrong that European NATO countries have needed to increase their defence spending for a long time. It remains to be seen which European NATO countries will actually do so or can: words are easy. (Just call Trump ‘Daddy’ and agree to whatever he says lol before continuing with whatever we intended to do all along anyway!)
Trump and many other Americans in positions of power obviously have been Russian assets to various degrees for a long time now, but the last thing Russia wants is Trump’s actions forcing Europe to spend more on defence, and end their reliance on the US.
Russia would prefer complacent European NATO/EU nations relying on America, who would pull the rug out from under them - similar to what America has done to Ukraine - when Russia was in a position to attack NATO further. I guess the timing just won’t be right for that outcome, unless Trump forces a third term, so Putin will be happy with what he has achieved.
As well as a Russian asset Trump is also just a bit of a moron who doesn’t see the value in the US dollar as global reserve currency. Maybe he sees the rise of China and thinks ‘this is what the US needs to do again. Go back to developing world status and become the world’s factory in order to rise later as China is now’. Trump doesn’t appear have much in the way of strategic thinking. He appears to have an unchangeable very out of date world view, and more he is driven by the pathological impulse to acquire everything he can for himself. The uber-pig.
This return to developing world status would be great for billionaires but not for your average American, never mind brown skinned Americans, women, the poor (ironically Trump’s base I guess), and other minorities.
I suppose with this post I have rendered myself persona-non-grata in the US now for the next several years and probably beyond (once border policies are put in place they don’t change easily). Pity. I like the Americans I have known and always wanted to visit.
It’s a common American view that the other countries weren’t spending “enough”, whereas from the perspective of everyone else on the planet it’s America that’s spending a hugely disproportionate amount of wealth on killing, and just expecting its allies to do the same.
https://www.globalfirepower.com/defense-spending-budget.php
My comment on Europe needing to spend more was simply in terms of the reality of facing down a belligerent Russia.
Americans generally do not seem to understand that their massive military spending is actually in support of and necessary as long as they wanted the dollar as global reserve currency. This doesn’t surprise me and isn’t really a criticism (we have similar issues in the UK). The American people I have come across online appear to have grown up being told they are exceptional, the best, apparently without actually being told the reality of 20th century economic history.
The world was forced to buy oil in dollars due to the arrangement the US made with the Saudis, meaning the world had to buy US debt if it wanted oil. Obviously in this scenario the US print the money other people are borrowing facilitating the transfer of wealth that is coming to an end. When the likes of Saddam Hussein said he was going to sell oil in Euros he got a good ol’ dose of freedom. The 9/11 attackers were Saudis but the US would never touch them due to this arrangement. Anyway, this is why US defence spending has been what it has been. It isn’t the case that the rest of the world should have paid more. In fact the rest of the world paid the US deficit at least in part by this mechanism. Trump is bringing those halcyon days to a premature end intentionally because now he wants the likes of Europe to pay US debts but not get military support lol.
If/when the US doesn’t spend that money on military support of regions like Europe the US are in a sense reneging on their agreement and so they no longer get that global reserve currency status, everybody sells US debt, the dollar is greatly weakened (which might be what Trump wants, in terms of making US made goods affordable for people outside the US, whether misguided or not) and presumably interest rates rise considerably. Moving away from SWIFT and the WTO are 100% unambiguous signals of the EU’s intent to ‘dedollarise’ we have seen in just the last few days.
This reserve currency status is roughly what has given America a large amount of unearned global wealth post ww2, and more or less allowed boomers to buy a home on one wage etc. Changing it is a huge upheaval on US life that will last many decades. Military spending has supported the dollar, Trump is more or less throwing that away.
I’m pretty sure that last decade or so has shown that Europe doesn’t spend enough. It’s not just Russia’s invasion. Military action in Libya was reliant on the US to sustain more than a few days of action.