Speaking at a rally in Tampa, Florida on Thursday, US President Donald Trump accused the country’s allies of treating Washington “worse than the enemy” because of their preference for former president Barack Obama.
The president criticized the country’s so-called friends for exploiting the US and warned that the situation would become even direr under a Joe Biden presidency. “He wants you to surrender our country to China, to all of these over countries that have taken total advantage of us,” Trump said.
Additionally, he slammed the nations for not stepping up on issues such as military protection and trade and singled out Germany for saying that they “like Barack Hussein Obama much more than they like Trump”, arguing that it was only because the former administration overlooked Berlin’s “delinquent” NATO payments. The president boasted that he had taken a tough stance on the defense spending issue within the military alliance, and had given Germany an ultimatum: “If you don’t pay, I’m going to start taking our troops out”.
In July, Trump ordered the Pentagon to withdraw almost 12,00 troops from Germany. Though Pentagon officials said that the decision was part of a long-term plan focused on the “strategic repositioning” of American forces in Europe, Trump insisted that it was a consequence of Berlin failing to reach NATO members’ agreed-upon defense expenditure target of 2% of GDP. “We’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills; it’s very simple,” he told reporters in July.
However, despite chastising NATO countries for not pulling their weight, the US is hoping that they will join Washington to collectively crackdown on China’s nuclear program, to limit Beijing’s growing influence in the global arms race. As part of its broader campaign to paint China – and not Russia – as the US’ primary and most threatening adversary, particularly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration’s top envoy for arms control, Marshall Billingslea urged allies at a meeting last week to impose stricter arms control restrictions on China for its nuclear expansion.
Washington argued that China’s efforts to increase the size of its arsenal made it prudent for the US and its allies to take preemptive defensive actions, which could include the deployment of additional missiles. China has also shown little interest to enter into a trilateral arms reduction agreement (New START Treaty) with the US and Russia unless the US commits to a significant reduction of its own nuclear capabilities.
Trump Accuses US Allies of Unfair Treatment, Calls Them “Worse Than the Enemy”
He slammed NATO nations for not stepping up on issues such as military protection and trade, arguing that they had taken advantage of the US, which would only get worse under Joe Biden.
October 31, 2020
SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER