David Brooks:
Yes, that’s a valid point.
I mean, they haven’t been paying any — as long as the Cold War was going on, they didn’t have to pay their dues. And so now they have to because the Cold War is over, so that was — that arrangement was bound to end.
But they have upped their spending. The amount of spending that Donald Trump wants Europe to pay as a percentage GDP, we don’t even do that. So it’s an act of hypocrisy to say they’re totally at the wrong. They’re somewhat at the wrong.
But that’s not really what the core is here. Look, look at what Donald Trump has been doing to Ukraine over the last week. He sends the Treasury secretary in there, and he hands him a piece of paper said, basically, hand us over 50 percent of your mineral rights. That is, I’m making you an author you can’t refuse.
That is what — in ancient Rome, they would go into a little country and say, give us all your money or we will kill your women. Like, that was like an imperial power saying, tribute. Give us tribute.
That’s essentially what Donald Trump just did to Vladimir Putin (sic). And, initially, Putin (sic) said, hell no. But now it could be an offer he can’t refuse because he needs the Americans. And so now they’re, I guess, coming close to a deal because we’re taking a country that was invaded, that bravely resisted on the behalf of the Western alliance. We’re saying, pay up.
And it’s — I don’t have words to describe.
