45 wants to blow up NATO
Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2024 8:12 am
John Bolton doesn’t really buy Donald Trump’s story about telling an unnamed head of state he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to countries that didn’t meet NATO’s defense spending standards.
But he does think the former president’s threats — and his desire to abandon the alliance — are chillingly real.
“Look, I was there when he almost withdrew, and he’s not negotiating,” said Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser. “His goal here is not to strengthen NATO, it’s to lay the groundwork to get out.”
Bolton, one of the loudest critics to emerge from the Trump White House, has long expressed dismay at Trump’s tenure. In his post-mortem book, “The Room Where it Happened,” he portrayed Trump as unfamiliar with basic facts and driven, above all, by a desire to win another term. In Bolton’s telling, it’s no different with Trump’s recent comments about NATO. That doesn’t change the reality that Trump wants out of the alliance that has helped ground the U.S.-led global order for decades. And Bolton wants Trump’s defenders to recognize that.
“I think there are some Republicans who support Trump out there saying, ‘Oh, it’s, you know, it’s not a big deal. He’s not going to do it, so on and so forth.’ I’m telling you, I was there in Brussels when he damn near did it,” Bolton said.
And if Trump does destroy NATO, he warned, the consequences would be dire.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... 60?cid=apn
But he does think the former president’s threats — and his desire to abandon the alliance — are chillingly real.
“Look, I was there when he almost withdrew, and he’s not negotiating,” said Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser. “His goal here is not to strengthen NATO, it’s to lay the groundwork to get out.”
Bolton, one of the loudest critics to emerge from the Trump White House, has long expressed dismay at Trump’s tenure. In his post-mortem book, “The Room Where it Happened,” he portrayed Trump as unfamiliar with basic facts and driven, above all, by a desire to win another term. In Bolton’s telling, it’s no different with Trump’s recent comments about NATO. That doesn’t change the reality that Trump wants out of the alliance that has helped ground the U.S.-led global order for decades. And Bolton wants Trump’s defenders to recognize that.
“I think there are some Republicans who support Trump out there saying, ‘Oh, it’s, you know, it’s not a big deal. He’s not going to do it, so on and so forth.’ I’m telling you, I was there in Brussels when he damn near did it,” Bolton said.
And if Trump does destroy NATO, he warned, the consequences would be dire.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... 60?cid=apn