Just a thought.

[Coyote]

Trump people seem to love that Trump is willing to push around our allies and fight for what he believes is best for us, but if we end up alienating these countries it will be very bad for us. Pissing off these countries really isn't good business. Tact and diplomacy have their place too, and Trump seems to fail desperately when it comes to that.

So they should push us around? We’re paying the bills and doing all the work. Here’s a thought. If these are your friends and they treat you like your enemies maybe you need better friends.

How many of those countries have troops in conflicts for us? Afghanistan? Iraq?

Doing what? All of them other than England and a couple others only send support troops that can cook or clean but can never be help in a battle. We can hire maids, hell hundreds run across our border. They could easily take over the jobs of the French, Italians and Japs.

iCasualties | Operation Enduring Freedom | Afghanistan

 

[Coyote]

Well all I can say is we have had many years of tact and diplomacy, especially eight years just recently. Where have we gotten? We are still paying a large portion of resources spent on NATO. China still steals our intellectual property. We still pay higher tariffs on almost everything compared to what we sell. Other countries don't want to stop the Iran nuclear deal, not because it was so good, but they don't want to lose the oil. Germany wants to purchase their energy from Russia yet wants our protection from them.
Perhaps we do need to take off the kid gloves. Kindness obviously has only worked to make things worse or at the very least keep it the same.
It was once said that you need to speak softly but carry a big stick. Our big stick maybe to cut off some of the free spending.

We have been the biggest beneficiaries of all that diplomacy.

Do you consider trade imbalance to be beneficial? Do you consider China feeling free to steal intellectual property beneficial? Let us hear what you consider to be beneficial. I have noticed that the U.S. has always been one of the first on the spot during natural and man made disasters. How many have been in the U.S. during a disaster? How many countries are supplementing us? How many times have counties helped us to rebuild?

You are comparing different things here. I was talking about Nato.

In terms of trade yes, we as a country have benifited greatly from trade agreements. In terms of disputes brought befor WTO we have won over 80% of them, far more than any other country.

 

[Coyote]

Trump people seem to love that Trump is willing to push around our allies and fight for what he believes is best for us, but if we end up alienating these countries it will be very bad for us. Pissing off these countries really isn't good business. Tact and diplomacy have their place too, and Trump seems to fail desperately when it comes to that.

So we should just sit and cry while we get taken advantage of and robbed blind? That's the liberal way. Those days are long gone. Trump ran on putting America first. And that's exactly what he's doing.

We will have to see how this approach works. Seems smarter to group with our allies who have similar trade issues with China and apply pressure. Instead we have insulted all of our allies, put tarifs on them and China is stepping into the breech

 

[Seawytch]

Trump people seem to love that Trump is willing to push around our allies and fight for what he believes is best for us, but if we end up alienating these countries it will be very bad for us. Pissing off these countries really isn't good business. Tact and diplomacy have their place too, and Trump seems to fail desperately when it comes to that.

/——-/ They need to pay their fair share and stop pissing on America’s shoes.

They pay in personnel. They send troops to die in wars we start. That's MORE than their fair share.

Total and complete bullshit! What wars did we start?

Also, when was the last time a German soldier was killed in Iraq or Afghanistan?

It was over 5 years ago.

So what? In the almost 70 years of NATO, only one country ever got their help in a war...(psssst, it was us)

 

[SmokeALib]

Trump people seem to love that Trump is willing to push around our allies and fight for what he believes is best for us, but if we end up alienating these countries it will be very bad for us. Pissing off these countries really isn't good business. Tact and diplomacy have their place too, and Trump seems to fail desperately when it comes to that.

So we should just sit and cry while we get taken advantage of and robbed blind? That's the liberal way. Those days are long gone. Trump ran on putting America first. And that's exactly what he's doing.

We will have to see how this approach works. Seems smarter to group with our allies who have similar trade issues with China and apply pressure. Instead we have insulted all of our allies, put tarifs on them and China is stepping into the breech

But are they really our allies? Why should our taxpayers foot the bill for these lopsided trade agreements and NATO?