He’s pulling this number from his ass. When the contracts are signed, infrastructure and factories are built, stronger alliances are formed, that number doesnt have to be nearly as big. It’s only because we are catching up that it’s expensive now.
Rutte’s only purpose here is to be a boot licker for Trump so he can remain on a level head with Trump when the next international temper tantrum hits, dont forget that.
You are not getting the full picture. NATO by design used to exist to keep Europe small militarily under US supervision, because the US wanted to avoid another Nazi-like regime from taking hold in Europe. That was the deal post WW2. The EU doesn’t grow their armies to the point they could reasonably threaten the US, and they provide that necessary protection instead. So the US inherently didn’t want the EU to have too much defense spending, and to follow their lead so they could keep control. And with how weak Europe was after WW2, they could not really refuse nor reject that.
In return, EU specialized in trade and manufacturing, something the US wanted. Hence why they are such big trading partners still. It’s not like the US was just snoozing at the wheel for more than two decades as defense spending went down. There was always caution (and honestly, the EU shouldn’t have ignored this) that more defense was going to be needed, but the status quo was always by mutual consent, as the US also benefited from essentially it’s own continent wide production factory while it could do what it does best at home (it’s military). And until Russia invaded Ukraine, nobody could even begin to sell the idea of more defense spending to the people, as that would too have increased prices for the US. And the US could have escalated if more defense spending was a dealbreaker to them, but they did not until Trump, because it would have just been a bad change without the hindsight of 2021.
Frankly, this notion that the EU took advantage of the US is really just MAGA propaganda. The same way Trump is now making the despicable claim that EU soldiers didn’t die enough for when the US, the single country that ever invoked NATO’s article 5, invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. When the US under Trump realized they could just not uphold their part of the system in place, as Trump does not understand diplomacy and soft power, that’s what he did, and defense spending was just the easy excuse if you ignore all that historical context.
As a European, I do somewhat respect Zelensky’s courage here. He knows full well that Trump might very well drop him like a brick for some stupid reason at any time, and that Europe has been there to help him in those cases. Yet this needs to be said. Like a true friend he can tell us the harsh truth even if it could strain the relationship, because while lying would be easier in the moment, it would not be better. Holding his words to avoid conflict would be… the same mentality as trying to appease a dictator to avoid conflict.
Let’s do better Europe.
I am sure our Belgian brothers will be fine with it if we say we came from Antwerp instead, it’s only 70 km away from Rotterdam :^)
A disgrace. This has to be fought or it will not end here.
It’s hard not to see exactly what the US under Trump is doing with these kinds of hostile actions lately. They’re trying to create a situation where Europe and/or others can only reasonably respond back with actions they can brand as hostile in return (That, or bend the knee), so they can play the victim and weaponize that as propaganda to undermine the peaceful and friendly relationships between the common people, a foundation of keeping large scale peace since WW2. Disgusting and utterly sinister behavior. We must resist being played like that and fight back against that urge while remaining defiant of this circus.
Not to mention, Trump essentially has to keep that military force ready at all times to keep the pressure, or pull it away from other places he’s threatening, like Iran. By the time the fleet is back on it’s way Rodríguez just has to play nice for a while again and eventually mother nature, midterms, or whatever form it will take, will take care of Trump.