Trump Wastes No Time Attacking Allies at NATO Summit
*By Alisha Haridasani*
Barely hours into the NATO summit in Brussels, President Trump has already spurned key allies and ramped up criticism against the organization.
Trump on Wednesday accused Germany of being a “captive of Russia” for using Russian oil and gas. He also, once again, called on other countries in the military alliance to increase their contribution to defense spending.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed back, though, reminding the president that she knows what it's really like to be occupied by the Soviet Union.
“I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. I am very happy that today we are united in freedom,” she said. “Because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions.”
She also pointed out that while Germany doesn’t contribute as much towards NATO’s defense spending as America, it is “the second largest provider of troops.”
The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, also warned the president to “appreciate your allies.”
“After all, you don’t have that many,” he said on Tuesday before the summit officially got underway.
Trump has long voiced his [opposition](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-president-trump-is-bearish-on-nato?utm_source=All+Subs&utm_campaign=6a3cd99c82-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_07_10_06_34&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4b7ac66387-6a3cd99c82-) to the military alliance, taking particular issue with America’s large contribution to spending compared with other member countries.
NATO set a spending goal for all 29 members in 2014, asking them to aim to contribute 2 percent of their GDP to defense. America currently pitches in more than 3 percent of its GDP, and only four other countries have met the 2 percent target.
Back home, Republican lawmakers see the president’s aggressive demands as a positive.
“This is an objective of NATO that Trump is reiterating,” said [Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.)](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-hill-trump-is-right-to-pressure-nato-allies-into-paying-more). “It’s not a new commitment, and it’s a commitment that predates Mr. Trump’s presidency. I’m fully supportive of it.”
A few days after meeting with NATO, an alliance that was founded after WWII to counter Soviet Union aggression, Trump will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin one-on-one in Helsinki, Finland.
That meeting, which Trump has said “may be the easiest of them all,” is a source of concern for American allies and lawmakers alike, who worry that he may make too many concessions.
Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday sent the president a [letter](https://democrats-foreignaffairs.house.gov/news/press-releases/forty-four-armed-services-and-foreign-affairs-committee-democrats-release), urging him to “not praise, condone, or abet any Russian efforts to undermine the sovereignty or democracy of any of our allies and partners.”
“President Trump must recognize the importance that our forward military presence and joint military exercises play in deterring Russia and ensuring military readiness,” the letter states, responding to [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-assessing-cost-of-keeping-troops-in-germany-as-trump-battles-with-europe/2018/06/29/94689094-ca9f-490c-b3be-b135970de3fc_story.html?utm_term=.8ccfeaba8548) that the Pentagon is considering reducing America’s military presence in Europe and alluding to Trump’s decision to end military exercises on the Korean peninsula after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“This president says ‘America First’ but it seems as though he’s saying ‘Russia First’ or ‘North Korea First’,” said [Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-meeks-trump-is-putting-russia-first) who sits on the House committee that wrote the letter. “It seems as though this president enjoys to give away the store to individuals who have been antagonistic towards us.”
After the Chicago teachers union voted to work remotely due to what they say is a lack of safety protocols amid the COVID-19 surge, the school system canceled classes on Wednesday, citing harm that remote learning has done to the city's children. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, joined Cheddar to discuss the issues surrounding the latest dispute between educators and schools. She said that the return to in-person learning would likely be halted until more COVID tests could be provided for districts. "This is a terrible situation for everybody, and we need the testing, and we need the masks," she said. "It's the omicron surge that has created this disruption, and we are trying to do the best we can. And this is the only school district that has this kind of action right now." The teachers might not be returning to their schools for at least two weeks amid the ongoing tensions.
Illinois State Senator Robert Martwick joins Cheddar News to discuss the new bill he co-sponsored allowing students in the state to take 5 mental health days without a doctor's note.
On Monday, President Biden announced his new plan to take on inflation by taking down the big meat monopolies - turning to the federal government's antitrust authorities to investigate the major meatpackers that control a significant share of the market. The White House plans to devote one billion dollars to aiding independent meat and poultry producers in an effort to undercut the few powerful meat producers that have control of the sector. Austin Frerick, deputy director of Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
As the pandemic drags on, so does the widespread great resignation. In November alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, marking a new record high, and showing a 9 percent jump from the month prior. On the flip side, the number of people filing tax paperwork to start new businesses is surging, with over 430,000 new businesses launching in November. Rhett Buttle, the founder of Public Private Strategies and national business advisor to the Biden for President campaign, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
California's new composting law will affect what residents do in their kitchens. As of this week, Californians will have to recycle excess food in an effort to reduce emissions caused by food waste. Cities and counties will turn recycled food into compost or use it as a renewable energy source. California's new law is the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the country. Rachel Wagoner, Director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery called the law 'the biggest change to trash' since recycling started in the 1980s. She joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
As the U.S. comes up on the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.,A.C. Thompson, investigative reporter at ProPublica, joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss updates to American Insurrection by FRONTLINE, ProPublica and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program. The documentary investigates the attack on the Capitol touched off by the lie that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump but with new information gleaned since the event including interviews with lawmakers and law enforcement and the evolution of groups like the Boogaloo Boys and the Proud Boys behind the attack. "In some ways those groups that were kind of the vanguard of January 6 are maybe no longer relevant because their message is everywhere," he said.
