You have to do a whole lot of something to wrangle President Joe Biden into a state of fury. It’s hard to imagine the man having the energy to yell at anything — after all, this is the same man who took a nap while riding his bike once — but when it comes to former president Donald Trump, the Venom to Biden’s Spider-Man, anything is possible. Invigorated by Trump’s recent remarks concerning Russia (read: Putin) and our NATO allies, the sleeping giant finally woke up.
Even the media took notice of Biden’s rage, using words like “slammed” and “galling” when describing his reaction. The vitriol stemmed from Trump’s witless comments at a recent campaign rally in South Carolina during which he offered that “Russia should do whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t fulfill the spending quota on defense. Biden shot back that such talk is basically just bowing down to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Also, it kind of seems like Trump has no idea what he’s talking about, nor any understanding of how NATO works. Shocking.
NATO was founded after WWII to help Europe deter the Soviet Union from expanding. It doesn’t require membership fees, so there’s no “delinquency” to speak of. NATO nations are asked to devote at least 2% of GDP to defense. It’s a guideline, however, and not a requirement. Countries including France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Canada all spend less than 2% GDP on defense. Countries that border Russia — like Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia — all pay more than 2% on defense. (Wonder why that is. Real head scratcher, that one.) After Trump’s remarks, Germany, who spends around 1.57% on defense, said it would move to meet the 2% guideline. “That is urgently needed,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. “Because as harsh as this reality is, we do not live in times of peace.”
Back to Fiery Biden. Trump’s comments, he said, send a “dangerous and shocking signal”: “Can you imagine a former President of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. The worst thing is, he means it.” Biden spoke on the issue while encouraging the House of Representatives to vote on a $95 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and aid to Palestinians. He has spent a good portion of his career working on diplomatic security in regards to the transatlantic region and reports say that when he heard Trump’s speech, he was “aghast” and shocked into action. The White House also released a statement about it shortly after Trump spoke.
“Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged ⏤ and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said. In a sign that campaign season is really heating up, Biden mentioned Trump’s name about six times in his speech. “No other president in our history has bowed down to a Russian dictator,” Biden said. “Let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will. For God’s sake, it’s dumb. It’s shameful. It’s dangerous. It’s un-American.” He then charged Trump with idiocy, saying the former president didn’t understand how NATO worked. “For Trump, principles never matter. Everything is transactional.” He then pledged to continue the U.S. commitment to NATO, saying, “When America gives its word, it means something. When we make a commitment, we keep it and NATO is a sacred commitment.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who is notoriously diplomatic and rarely makes any noise, also fired back at Trump, saying, “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.” This isn’t even the first time Trump has mischaracterized NATO, adding more fuel to the fire that he really doesn’t understand how it works.
Back in 2018, Trump talked about NATO like it was a business that wasn’t going to survive: “I went to NATO. And NATO was essentially going out of business ’cause people weren’t paying and it was going down, down, down.” Again, no country pays to be in NATO. He also said that Americans are “the schmucks that are paying for the whole thing.” Trump has a history of shooting from the hip, and if there’s one thing he knows how to do, it’s rile up the left and get a lot of attention. Whether or not he understands how NATO works, he sure does know how to get everyone talking. The real trick, as Americans have learned since 2016, is getting him to shut up.
