Trump demanded Americas NATO money back from Frances Hollande in messy phone call: report

[applegrove]

by Tom Boggioni at the Raw Story

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/trump-demanded-americas-nato-money-back-from-frances-hollande-in-messy-phone-call-report/

"SNIP..........


A phone call by Donald Trump to his French counterpart did not go very well with the newly-elected President demanding the United States get a refund on money spent on NATO.

According to a report from Politico, Trump spoke with French President Francois Hollande on Jan. 28 and while part of the conversation went well, they claim the president hounded Hollande about money.

Speaking with Politico, a senior official with knowledge of the call said that Trump seemed obsessed with NATO costs and stated that he thinks the U.S. is being taken advantage of by China and by international organizations like NATO.

“It was a difficult conversation, because he talks like he’s speaking publicly,” the official explained. “It’s not the usual way heads of state speak to each other. He speaks with slogans and the conversation was not completely organized.”


..............SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. He's going to piss off the world in

a series of calls to each and every leader in the world.

[RKP5637]

2. Trump, the most hated fool in the universe, and exceptionally stupid too! n/t

[Blue_true]

10. We are going to be so alone and unloved. nt

[applegrove]

12. We know it is not most Americans. We know. You still lead the world.

You are not alone. We all saw it happen over the years with Fox News and gerrymandering and the Uber assholes on the right. Don't take it personally.

[MoonRiver]

27. Until we throw him out of office.

My guess is that will happen in less than 4 years, but them we get Pence. At least he wouldn't start WWIII over a tweet, but that's the best I can say about him.

[Blue_true]

16. I love the SNL skit Saturday when he called Mugabe of

Zimbabwe. "Is this Donald Trump? Didn't I tell you that if you called me again, I would rip out your spine and drink out of your skull?"

[ElementaryPenguin]

3. All of our allies are going to end up slapping sanctions on us.

Brilliant job, Trump!! We've got two allies - RUSSIA - and Netanyahoooooo!!!

[LisaM]

4. No, I think he pissed off Netanyahu.

Apparently the King of Jordan got DT's ear on settlements, and Netanyahu was not too happy, either.

[Blue_true]

15. What likely will happen

Is Trump will marginalize and put down NATO, pick a fight with China, then demand that NATO cover his (and our) back. Sort of like the high school bully demand that his respectable posse cover his back after he has pissed off the all state defensive end of the football team.

[Ilsa]

5. At some point they might refund it and tell us to get lost.

And make us promise to stay gone until trump is gone.

[HoneyBadger]

26. Those are the exact things that Trump wants

[angrychair]

6. I consider this to my advantage

At a certain point the current situation becomes untenable and certain countries, one likely being France, will start taking in US citizens as political refugees. I will happily take advantage of that opportunity.

Am I giving up? Yes and no. I do still care but I feel I am wanting something that the majority of people could care less about.
So, it isn't just about the republican president or his republican cabinet or the nearly insurmountable republican control of congress or the republican control of a majority of state legislatures and governorships

What is it about?

That that control was earned through a voting public.

A minority of the voting public but the key word there is "voting".
To touch on my earlier point. The majority of people may care but that caring is very limited and their commitment is as soft as a marshmallow.
Some may come out for an hour to a rally...as long as it isn't to far away or isn't raining.
Voting is little different. Work and standing in line and rain or cold or whatever excuse, all make it so most people don't vote or maybe vote in one or two presidential elections in their whole life and most, a vast majority, don't even know what a "mid-term" is, that it is a real thing. I actually had someone make the very serious comment to me, an adult over 30, that voting every two years was asking to much of people.

There is a reason the reelection rate for incumbents is 97% but congressional approval polls is less than 20%.
If no one is voting, they get re elected.

[drray23]

9. a few days ago, one of the leading candidates to the presidency, emanuel macron

announced that France will gladly give a home to american scientists if they feel they are being persecuted in the US. He basically said that France will facilitate their relocation. This was in the context of the Trump administration attack on the climate change scientists but applied to scientists of all stripes.

[Foo Fighter]

22. When Trump won the election, i joked that an option for getting out

would be political asylum.

Given that we're not even three weeks into the Trump presidency and the shit seems to be hitting the fan from all directions, it's no longer a joke. If other countries start offering asylum to Americans, that would be an indication that we have some really serious problems. In that event, I just might have to think about to taking one of those countries up on it. (As long as it's warm. I hate the cold.)

Another option I joked about is claiming that my last name is actually Gonzalez and that I'm here illegally. I would then turn myself in because it's the right thing to do (and would speed up the process) and ask them to deport me to my home country of Costa Rica. (I've heard it's nice.)

The fall-through that's always been on the table is claiming religious persecution and looking for asylum through that route. In that case, of course, I would declare that I'm a Muslim, though other religions may come into play as this goes on.

These were things I joked about a few months ago. Unfortunately, it's not funny any more.

[Amaryllis]

7. I actually thought this was satire when i read the first paragraph. Then when I read

"according to a report from Politico..." i realized it wasn't. It is getting more and more challenging to tell the difference.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. Pissing off our allies

one at a time

[tammywammy]

11. Isn't NATO mostly based on what individual countries spend per their own GDP on defense?

Is Trump demanding a refund on what the US spends on its own military?

Or is he talking about the $460M or so we send to support the NATO military arm?

[applegrove]

13. I don't quite get that either.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. It's ok..HE doesn't get that either.

He hears something, or thinks he hears something, mooshes it around with something he thinks, pulls an idea out of his hair, and runs with it, as if it is the Gospel. The more he says it, the more real it becomes.
until he changes his mind or finds a new shiny to obsess over.

[applegrove]

21. The germ was right. That NATO countries need to pay their fair share

of costs. I've said before that the US public was left to fight communism in a way we didn't have to in canada. Sure our diplomats and spies and politicians and armed forces did fight the communists in their own way. But the public as a whole did not. And then we wonder why some in the US are paranoid and hyper-military and end up in illegal wars. Sharing the costs and the duties would temper the right wing MIC in the US.

But Trump takes one idea and messes it up with his lack of understanding of details or his lack of professionalism. His diplomacy skills are totally non existent. And he loviths the scapegoats. I've said before he should be a right wing muse. Not a president.

[Generic Other]

14. Merde-gibbon

💩💩💩

[yuiyoshida]

17. A high school bully demanding lunch money extortion

is not the way to go...

[Iris]

18. Making good deals. N/t

[Foo Fighter]

20. Well, if Trump wants a refund on NATO money

I want a refund on the taxes I've paid. All of them. That shouldn't be a problem, right?

Then again, Trump doesn't know anything about taxes since he's most likely never paid them. Paying taxes is for the "little people."

[sarah FAILIN]

23. I want to hear these calls

I told someone they were recorded and I don't think they believed me.

[DFW]

24. Trump is asking FRANCE for money?

Hollande has run France's economy into the ground to the point where he has a 17% approval rating and isn't even bothering to run for re-election--just like Trump will do with us if we let him get away with it.

[ck4829]

25. K&R