So now Trump knows.

[Suff]

The EU is run by idiots.

Tusk, in his comments after meeting Trump, hinted at a mild clash at least. “My main message to President Trump,” he said, “was that what gives our cooperation and friendship its deepest meaning are fundamental Western values, like freedom, human rights, respect for human dignity. The greatest task today is the consolidation of the whole free world around those values, not just interests.”

This in reference to NATO and Trumps visit to NATO.

Let me see. The deepest meaning of NATO is that if you attack one of the 28, the other 27 will come over the hill like a hairy arsed screaming horde of highlanders and ruin your whole day.

fundamental Western values, like freedom, human rights, respect for human dignity

Are wonderful things. Great, I'm sure the slaves had them too. Sadly, in order to practise them, they had to be free. NATO is all about remaining free and able to practise those "values". By using the threat of force!

For the idiots of the EU to justify weakening that force so they can spend the money on the values that NATO protects is like not learning the lessons of Rome; all over again!

[Workingman]

Trump meeting Tusk and Junker was a 30 brief meeting with the EU, it had sod all to do with his meeting with NATO.

The NATO meet was held separately and later and it is only coincidental that the headquarters of the EU and NATO are in Brussels.

Had the NATO meeting been held in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, Tusk and Junker would not have been there, but some EU officials might have been there as observers due to the Berlin Plus Agreement.

[Suff]

Tusk and Juncker were there to "set the scene" as to what the countries of the EU, in NATO, were going to say.

[Workingman]

Tusk and Juncker were there to "set the scene" as to what the countries of the EU, in NATO, were going to say.

No they weren't.

There was a brief meeting with the "EU" because Trump was in Brussels and it would have been impolite to not meet with them before his main task: NATO. It is called "Diplomacy", and as for what was reported, it is about as irrelevant to his visit as things get. At least the
Wash Post dedicated 95% of its article to what was relevant: NATO.

And when was the International Law passed saying that EU officials have to remain mute on anything and everything? It certainly does not apply to the Americans, Russians, Chinese or others; and when they do speak they are not immediately condemned as "idiots".

[Suff]

Ah, well, the US press have reported on the NATO meeting today. Seems that Trump has continued on his "non PC" path of lambasting 23 of the 28 members of NATO for not paying in and also highlighting how large some of those underpayments are (i.e. saying that to fix it they need to go back and pay in all the underpayments before talking about just upping their payments by 2024).

Then Trump did something which really rattled them. He refused to reiterate the guiding principles of Article5 and, instead, talked about the US standing by those who stood by the US in their own troubles. Which, if I read it correctly, is not sending a few reconnaissance planes and some training staff, but standing shoulder to shoulder fighting with US troops.

Personally it looks to me like an 11th hour deal where someone convinced Trump that he couldn't come to Brussels for a NATO meeting without meeting the leaders of the EU. That 30 minute slot looks a lot like that, Senators in the US get more time..

Not only that, but it was notably interesting that the President of the Parliament was not there and that Juncker and Tusk talked about there only being two presidents in the EU. It must seem very odd to the US press that the "leader of the house" is not represented in the EU even though they give him a presidential title and they let the equivalent of the Senate lead a meeting with Trump when the equivalent of the actual US President takes a second role.

Looking at the press today I'm sure that some countries will be very wary of the wisdom of telling Trump what he should be doing rather than doing, themselves, what they have committed, in treaty, to do.

[Kaz]

I think Trump can more than give the EU a run for their money on idiocy! He seems to be far more interested in moaning that the EU make it difficult for him to build his golf courses! So much for not pursuing his business interests whilst President