President Trump begins the NATO summit:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused fellow NATO ally Germany of being beholden to Russia because it buys energy from Moscow, in pointed remarks ahead of a summit of the military alliance in Brussels.
“Germany is a captive of Russia,” Trump said at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, his first since arriving in the Belgian capital. “It’s very inappropriate.”
Trump went on to complain that the United States is expected to “defend them against Russia,” despite Germany making “billions of dollars” in energy payments to Moscow.
“I think it’s something that NATO has to look at,” Trump said. “Germany is totally controlled by Russia.” [CNN]
We’ve seen this time after time, haven’t we? Trump is suspected of A, and then he accuses his opponent du jour of A. From sexual misconduct (“grab a pussy” vs PizzaGate), it’s been a distinctive pattern. A long running concern has been Trump being compromised by Russia, and so now he’s managed to use that particular trope against German Prime Minister Merkel, who had the wherewithal to criticize him.
While it may work as a distracting tactic, I wonder if it really betrays a complete lack of imagination on the part of the man. I shouldn’t be surprised.
