12 minutes agoCNN: Trump thought of attracting 1/3 troops to Europe to deliver message NATO, but plan changed
Periskopi(2 hours ago)
(2 hours ago)While President Donald Trump was expressing outrage during a meeting at the White House this spring that other NATO alliance member states had refused to join his fight against Iran, he had an idea.
What if he were to reduce the presence of American forces in Europe by a third, he asked, according to two people familiar with the conversation. Would that send the so - called allies the right message?
About the time Trump launched this idea, the Pentagon unexpectedly cancelled two US military outlets in Europe and ordered the withdrawal of other personnel from the continent, CNN writes.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to announce at an even larger NATO meeting in June, which could reach a reduction by one-third that Trump has mentioned, according to two sources. But the plan changed after consultations with other senior administration officials and, instead, Hegseth announced a six-month review of the American forces' presence in Europe.
Trump's anger and his threats are putting pressure on NATO's 77-year alliance. Never particularly enthusiastic to guarantee US support for Europe's defence, Trump has become even more skeptical, claiming that America's oldest allies were not close to him when he needed them, as he launched the fight against Iran.
He has never clearly ruled out the possibility of trying to withdraw the US from NATO, and repeatedly questions the alliance's worth for the United States, arguing that America is carrying Europe's security burden.
Trump has also threatened to take Greenland from another NATO member state and has repeatedly shown understanding to Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom some European officials fear he may be planning operations on NATO territory to test the alliance's determination./ Periscope.
