US versus NATO

[PuckChaser]

Nothing really wrong with what the President said there.  The E.U. is an economic competitor, along with China.

Exactly. The IMF, World Bank and UN all have the EU a very close second to the US in GDP, with China in striking distance in 3rd. Russia isn't even in the top 10.

 

[Altair]

Definition of foe 

1.

a. A personal enemy or opponent.

b. One who is opposed to an idea or cause:

2. An enemy in war.

3. Something that is destructive or injurious




      

Definition of competitor

: one that competes: such as

a : rival a fierce competitor on the soccer field

b : one selling or buying goods or services in the same market as another offering lower prices than our competitors

c : an organism that lives in competition with another

Which is the EU again?

 

[Infanteer]

Well, stand next to the President with a Webster's dictionary next time.  The rest of us are able to discern intent.

 

[Altair]

Well, stand next to the President with a Webster's dictionary next time.  The rest of us are able to discern intent.

last time I tried to discern intent,  Canada,  Mexico,  China,  and the EU ended up with tariffs slapped on them.

Just like he said he would do,  turns out it was less of posturing and pressure tactics and far more literal

 

[Altair]

So tough on Russia, the american president is.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/16/politics/donald-trump-putin-helsinki-summit/index.html

Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!

Hilariously, Russia tweeted back "We Agree"

That return on investment for helping The President win in 2016 is really working out in Putins favor.

 

[Altair]

Well, stand next to the President with a Webster's dictionary next time.  The rest of us are able to discern intent.

Hot damn, the President knows the exact difference between competitor and foe.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-putin-helsinki/index.html

"I called him a competitor, and a good competitor he is. I think the word competitor is a compliment"

The EU is a "Foe", Russia is a "Competitor"

Turns out he means EXACTLY what he says. Go figure.

last time I tried to discern intent,  Canada,  Mexico,  China,  and the EU ended up with tariffs slapped on them.

Just like he said he would do,  turns out it was less of posturing and pressure tactics and far more literal

 

[Altair]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/world/europe/trump-putin-summit-helsinki.html

And at a breakfast on Monday with President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, Mr. Trump said his tactics had been just the tough love needed to strengthen the alliance.

“I enjoyed being with you a couple of days ago,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Niinisto. “NATO has, I think, never been stronger. It was a little bit tough at the beginning, but it turned out to be love. I appreciated your support.”

It was not clear what support Mr. Trump was referring to. Mr. Niinisto attended the NATO gathering, but Finland is not a NATO member, so he would not have been in a position to help the president’s push for more military spending. — Julie Hirschfeld Davis

That's cute. I wonder what would be the response to this if Trudeau had done it.

 

[daftandbarmy]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/world/europe/trump-putin-summit-helsinki.html

That's cute. I wonder what would be the response to this if Trudeau had done it.

The difference is that no one cares what a lightweight like Trudeau thinks, outside of the usual eastern Canadian pork barrel circuit that is....

 

[Altair]

The difference is that no one cares what a lightweight like Trudeau thinks, outside of the usual eastern Canadian pork barrel circuit that is....

Au contraire, I think if Trudeau had said that, the usual suspects would be up in arms about how he is a political novice, how he is ruining relations with other countries, doesn't take NATO seriously, dumb as rocks, you know, the usual. He got that kind of stuff for his India visit.

Amazingly, the US president can go and say that, and at this point, nobody blinks an eye.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Trudeau would have been dressed up in traditional Finnish clothing.

 

[Good2Golf]

Amazingly, the US president can go and say that, and at this point, nobody blinks an eye.

I'm not sure if I'd say "Amazingly..." -- after all, the (now) President did tell people he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and still not lose any voters.  Eye-blinking pretty much became passé after that...

 

[Altair]

Trudeau would have been dressed up in traditional Finnish clothing.

Probably.

But I don't think he would have said something so mind blowingly stupid. Which I think matters a tad more than what he is wearing.

 

[Altair]

I'm not sure if I'd say "Amazingly..." -- after all, the (now) President did tell people he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and still not lose any voters.  Eye-blinking pretty much became passé after that...

That was a candidate on trying to win an election. Minor impact.

This is the president of the United States of America, going to a NATO conference, dealing with NATO for almost 2 years, getting daily briefings, and somehow not knowing that Finland isn't a NATO member, and that it's President wasn't at the conference that he just left earlier in the week.

That is amazing.

 

[TheHead]

He pretty much blamed everyone but the Russians  :rofl:  Twelve Russians, with more to come,  have been indicted and he blames everyone but the problem.  I don't think he lives in the same reality that everyone else does.  I believe it was mentioned before but the Americans really do deserve this man.  It's making them and his diehard supporters look foolish.

 

 

[Remius]

So another world leader "handles" Trump.  First Kim, now Putin. 

Not surprised really. 

 

[TheHead]

So another world leader "handles" Trump.  First Kim, now Putin. 

Not surprised really.

He really does like cozying up with dictators. I expect to see him cozy up to Omar al-Bashir and blaming crooked Hillary, Mueller and the Democrats for what happened in Sudan.

 

[Altair]

So another world leader "handles" Trump.  First Kim, now Putin. 

Not surprised really.

It's amazing to me that he can badmouth the EU, Elizabeth May, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau, NATO on a whole, the G7, the WTO, China(But not Xi), Mexico, but cannot, with a mountain of evidence from his own intelligence services, say a bad word about Putin.

Going as far as to say that the USA deserves equal blame for poor Russia US relations, and both side have made mistakes?

After the tongue lashing he has given everyone else?

This has been the weakest performance by an American president against a Russian one in history. This, after being the tough man versus Americas allies.

Helsinki, Finland (CNN)US President Donald Trump, in a stunning rebuke of the US intelligence community, declined on Monday to endorse the US government's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying he doesn't "see any reason why" Russia would be responsible.

Instead, Trump -- standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin -- touted Putin's vigorous denial and pivoted to complaining about the Democratic National Committee's server and missing emails from Hillary Clinton's personal account.
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said during a joint news conference following his summit with Putin.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/16/politics/donald-trump-putin-helsinki-summit/index.html

 

[suffolkowner]

Trump's a poor president at best, but that doesn't mean that NATO's overall preparedness over provisioning or Canada's in particular are acceptable to me. If he can badger an improvement and greater acceptance of responsibility out of someone I will take it.

 

[Altair]

Trump's a poor president at best, but that doesn't mean that NATO's overall preparedness over provisioning or Canada's in particular are acceptable to me. If he can badger an improvement and greater acceptance of responsibility out of someone I will take it.

No worries.

We don't need NATO. The American President is best friends with the Russian one. Nothing bad can happen.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

No worries.

We don't need NATO. The American President is best friends with the Russian one. Nothing bad can happen.

:rofl: that's near as hilarious trudeau's eulogy to Castro or his praise of dictatorships, including China.