Trump questions need for NATO, outlines noninterventionist foreign policy
By Philip Rucker and Robert CostaMarch 21 at 4:30 PM
<article itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Listen: Donald Trump's take on NATO
This post has been updated. Donald Trump outlined an unabashedly noninterventionist approach to world affairs Monday, telling The Washington Post's editorial board that he questions the need for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has formed the backbone of Western security policies since the Cold War. The meeting at The Post covered a range of issues, including media libel laws, violence at his rallies, climate change, NATO and the U.S. presence in Asia.
Campaign 2016 Email Updates
Speaking ahead of a major address on foreign policy later Monday in front of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Trump said he advocates a light footprint in the world. In spite of unrest abroad, especially in the Middle East, Trump said the United States must look inward and steer its resources toward rebuilding domestic infrastructure. [Anxious about Trump? Try being a foreign ambassador.] Donald Trump speaks with Washington Post Publisher Fred Ryan, left, as he departs a meeting with the editorial board of The Washington Post. Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt is on the right. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) "I do think it’s a different world today, and I don’t think we should be nation-building anymore," Trump said. "I think it’s proven not to work, and we have a different country than we did then. We have $19 trillion in debt. We’re sitting, probably, on a bubble. And it’s a bubble that if it breaks, it’s going to be very nasty. I just think we have to rebuild our country." He added: "I watched as we built schools in Iraq and they’re blown up. We build another one, we get blown up. We rebuild it three times and yet we can’t build a school in Brooklyn. We have no money for education because we can’t build in our own country. At what point do you say, 'Hey, we have to take care of ourselves?' So, I know the outer world exists and I’ll be very cognizant of that. But at the same time, our country is disintegrating, large sections of it, especially the inner cities." For the first time, Trump also listed members of a team chaired by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that is counseling him on foreign affairs and helping to shape his policies: Keith Kellogg, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Walid Phares and Joseph E. Schmitz. Trump praised George P. Shultz, who served as President Ronald Reagan's top diplomat, and was harshly critical of current secretary of state John F. Kerry. He questioned the United States’ continued involvement in NATO and, on the subject of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, said America’s allies are "not doing anything." "Ukraine is a country that affects us far less than it affects other countries in NATO, and yet we’re doing all of the lifting," Trump said. "They’re not doing anything. And I say: 'Why is it that Germany’s not dealing with NATO on Ukraine? Why is it that other countries that are in the vicinity of Ukraine, why aren’t they dealing? Why are we always the one that’s leading, potentially the third world war with Russia.' " Listen: Donald Trump's full interview with The Washington Post editorial board
Trump said that U.S. involvement in NATO may need to be significantly diminished in the coming years, breaking with nearly seven decades of consensus in Washington. "We certainly can’t afford to do this anymore," Trump said, adding later, "NATO is costing us a fortune, and yes, we’re protecting Europe with NATO, but we’re spending a lot of money." Trump sounded a similar note in discussing the U.S. presence in the Pacific. He questioned the value of massive military investments in Asia and wondered aloud whether the United States still was capable of being an effective peacekeeping force there. “South Korea is very rich, great industrial country, and yet we’re not reimbursed fairly for what we do," Trump said. "We’re constantly sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games — we’re reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing." Asked whether the United States benefits from its involvement in the region, Trump replied, "Personally, I don’t think so." He added, "I think we were a very powerful, very wealthy country, and we are a poor country now. We’re a debtor nation." Trump cast China as a leading economic and geopolitical rival and said the United States should toughen its trade alliances to better compete. "China has got unbelievable ambitions," Trump said. "China feels very invincible. We have rebuilt China. They have drained so much money out of our country that they’ve rebuilt China. Without us, you wouldn’t see the airports and the roadways and the bridges. The George Washington Bridge [in New York], that’s like a trinket compared to the bridges that they build in China. We don’t build anymore. We had our day." Trump began the hour-long meeting by pulling out a list of some of his foreign policy advisers. "Walid Phares, who you probably know. PhD, adviser to the House of Representatives. He’s a counterterrorism expert," Trump said. "Carter Page, PhD. George Papadopoulos. He’s an oil and energy consultant. Excellent guy. The honorable Joe Schmitz, [was] inspector general at the Department of Defense. General Keith Kellogg. And I have quite a few more. But that’s a group of some of the people that we are dealing with. We have many other people in different aspects of what we do. But that’s a pretty representative group." Trump said he plans to share more names in the coming days. Kellogg, a former Army lieutenant general, is an executive vice president at CACI International, a Virginia-based intelligence and information technologyconsulting firm with clients around the world. He has experience in national defense and homeland security issues and worked as chief operating officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad following the invasion of Iraq. Schmitz served as inspector general at the Defense Department during the early years of President George W. Bush’s administration and has worked for Blackwater Worldwide. In a brief phone call Monday, Schmitz confirmed that he is working for the Trump campaign and said that he has been involved for the past month. He said he frequently confers with Sam Clovis, one of Trump's top policy advisers, and that there has been a series of conference calls and briefings in recent weeks. [Opinion: The foreign policy 'experts' who will flock to Trump should scare you] Papadopoulos directs an international energy center at the London Center of International Law Practice. He previously advised the presidential campaign of Ben Carson and worked as a research fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. Phares has an academic background, teaching at the National Defense University and Daniel Morgan Academy in Washington, and has advised members of Congress and appeared as a television analyst discussing terrorism and the Middle East. Page, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and now the managing partner of Global Energy Capital, is a longtime energy industry executive who rose through the ranks at Merrill Lynch around the world before founding his current firm. He previously was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he focused on the Caspian Sea region and the economic development in former Soviet states, according to his company biography and documents from his appearances at panels over the past decade. Trump’s meeting with The Post was on the record. An audio recording was shared by the editorial board, and a full transcript will be posted later Monday. Trump was accompanied to the meeting, which took place at The Post's new headquarters, by his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and spokeswoman, Hope Hicks.
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Comment
Mase of Base
SBR MVP
07-24-12
3622
#8197
Quite interesting Gonzo thanks.
I don't know about that wall pic that's nothing like Trump is saying he will build but there should be something like you posted along the border, I thought there was a fence similar to this? Plus isn't the USA/Mex border around four times as long as that one.
I like him calling out NATO, I've always wondered why it seems to be Obama going over to mediate talks in those situations especially considering what appears to be a very icy relationship he and Putin seem to have!
Also a big fan of stopping those huge manufacturing companies sending their work over to third world countries to become even more wealthy than they already are, one of the big gripes I have with the current state of the world. I say world as this isn't only an American issue it's a first world issue, makes me sick and glad someone is speaking up about it.
Comment
nyplayer33
Restricted User
09-27-06
8303
#8198
Your kids will work 3 part time jobs f I r 40 hrs..if you back a give that doesn't change free trade and keep companies in usa....
Comment
Dr.Gonzo
SBR MVP
12-05-09
4660
#8199
Originally posted by khicks26
No don't be stupid.
No, I'm serious about this, Cenk not only denies the Armenian genocide, he mocks it. For someone who preaches about cultural sensitivity, to name your organization The Young Turks is truly astonishing.
Punk pioneer Mike Watt declines his glass coffin; ease up on Jar Jar already!
Comment
TrumpOWNS
SBR Hustler
03-19-16
56
#8200
Originally posted by Dr.Gonzo
Was just in Mexico Sunday night collecting some UFC winnings. Stopped by Adelitas before coming back. Love me some big booty latinas.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8201
Originally posted by Dr.Gonzo
No, I'm serious about this, Cenk not only denies the Armenian genocide, he mocks it. For someone who preaches about cultural sensitivity, to name your organization The Young Turks is truly astonishing.
Punk pioneer Mike Watt declines his glass coffin; ease up on Jar Jar already!
Yes she works at TYT. At least this one didn't have Spider Man toys.
Comment
larco15
SBR Sharp
12-06-09
329
#8202
Dozens dead, hundreds wounded in Brussels. Religion of peace strikes again.
Is your head still in the sand, khicks/d2bets/brainwashed masses?
Can you imagine what will be going on in Europe in just 10 years after all of the millions that Merkel is shuffling in as part of that organized destruction?
Comment
Scorpion
SBR Hall of Famer
09-04-05
7797
#8203
bad policies of Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton helped create disorder in Iraq, Libya, Syria — and, scarier, doesn’t seem to understand how
American primacy at all cost. That's her dangerous guiding mission. Only Bush, Nixon loved imperial adventure more
Originally posted by larco15
Dozens dead, hundreds wounded in Brussels. Religion of peace strikes again.
Is your head still in the sand, khicks/d2bets/brainwashed masses?
Can you imagine what will be going on in Europe in just 10 years after all of the millions that Merkel is shuffling in as part of that organized destruction?
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8204
Originally posted by larco15
Dozens dead, hundreds wounded in Brussels. Religion of peace strikes again.
Is your head still in the sand, khicks/d2bets/brainwashed masses?
Can you imagine what will be going on in Europe in just 10 years after all of the millions that Merkel is shuffling in as part of that organized destruction?
WTF are you talking about. Like I don't know there,s terrorist in the world. STFU
Comment
larco15
SBR Sharp
12-06-09
329
#8205
More basic logic just went over your head again, khicks.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8206
Originally posted by larco15
More basic logic just went over your head again, khicks.
I won’t be voting for Hillary Clinton if she wins the Democratic Party nomination for president, and I won’t heed Bernie Sanders if, as he has vowed to
Was just in Mexico Sunday night collecting some UFC winnings. Stopped by Adelitas before coming back. Love me some big booty latinas.
I prefer tropical and hong kong
Comment
JIBBBY
SBR Aristocracy
12-10-09
83686
#8209
Originally posted by Dr.Gonzo
YES, now that is a what I'm talking about, America should be allowed to tighten up it's borders, why not???
Speaking of closed borders Brussels International airport just got blasted by ISIS today.. Europe is now getting hammered because they have had open borders recently... First Paris now this and in such a short time.. I wonder why that is? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35869254
Before this Syrian refugee onslaught I don't remember these terrorists attacks happening so frequently if at all.. Just saying? Is there a connection? It was in Paris...
Comment
Dr.Gonzo
SBR MVP
12-05-09
4660
#8210
Originally posted by khicks26
Yes she works at TYT. At least this one didn't have Spider Man toys.
I made the case my self and sourced my claims, you obviously didn't bother to read the links.
I linked the first video I found because you are the way you are and I thought you would be more inclined to take it seriously but no, sticking your head in the sand as usual.
Just read the comments on the video you linked.
Cenk is a disgrace, and if you continue to support him you are showing your hypocrisy, yet again.
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103600
#8211
Originally posted by Dr.Gonzo
I made the case my self and sourced my claims, you obviously didn't bother to read the links.
I linked the first video I found because you are the way you are and I thought you would be more inclined to take it seriously but no, sticking your head in the sand as usual.
Just read the comments on the video you linked.
Cenk is a disgrace, and if you continue to support him you are showing your hypocrisy, yet again.
Comment
brooks85
SBR Aristocracy
01-05-09
44709
#8212
Originally posted by khicks26
WTF are you talking about. Like I don't know there,s terrorist in the world. STFU
you certainly don't know the history
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8213
Originally posted by Dr.Gonzo
I made the case my self and sourced my claims, you obviously didn't bother to read the links.
I linked the first video I found because you are the way you are and I thought you would be more inclined to take it seriously but no, sticking your head in the sand as usual.
Just read the comments on the video you linked.
Cenk is a disgrace, and if you continue to support him you are showing your hypocrisy, yet again.
If he was this Armenian hating Turk, why does this women who is Armenian working for TYT.
Even if he is, what is the end game. WTF is your point? Do you have one, or do you just get pissed when I post his vids.
Since your a Nazi, how do you feel about that genocide?
No I am not going to read your links, because of the fact. An Armenian women works on the Network.
Like I care what any ass write's in the comment section.
What your point? Spit it out & quit dancing around.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8214
Originally posted by brooks85
you certainly don't know the history
Yeah I know brooks, your great great great grand pappy sailed his wooden boat to the middle east & was attacked by pirates.
Thanks for the history lesson.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8215
Originally posted by DwightShrute
I see I will have to post even more TYT vids.
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103600
#8216
Originally posted by khicks26
I see I will have to post even more TYT vids.
you are a Cenk addict. You need an intervention. People that love you are trying to help you but you refuse to admit you have a problem. Trust me, go cold turkey from Cenk and you'll be a better person before you know it. The air will smell cleaner, food will taste better and people will treat you better.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8217
Originally posted by DwightShrute
you are a Cenk addict. You need an intervention. People that love you are trying to help you but you refuse to admit you have a problem. Trust me, go cold turkey from Cenk and you'll be a better person before you know it. The air will smell cleaner, food will taste better and people will treat you better.
OK, we will do it together. No Cenk for me. No more Trump for you. LOL
Comment
Dr.Gonzo
SBR MVP
12-05-09
4660
#8218
Originally posted by khicks26
If he was this Armenian hating Turk, why does this women who is Armenian working for TYT.
Even if he is, what is the end game. WTF is your point? Do you have one, or do you just get pissed when I post his vids.
Since your a Nazi, how do you feel about that genocide?
No I am not going to read your links, because of the fact. An Armenian women works on the Network.
Like I care what any ass write's in the comment section.
What your point? Spit it out & quit dancing around.
Why would blacks or muslims work for Trump if he were a racist? You literally just destroyed any shred of credibility you had remaining. So are you admitting to being a propagandist who just attacked Trump on fictitious grounds?
My point is simple, if you believe in the morals you espouse you'll denounce Cenk.
I would imagine many of those asses in the comment section are Armenians who are upset by Cenks behavior, but of course you don't care about them.
Click on the following link, it's literally a newspaper article written by Cenk.
^khicks can't possibly destroy any more of his credibility unless he is going into negative numbers.
Originally posted by khicks26
Yeah I know brooks, your great great great grand pappy sailed his wooden boat to the middle east & was attacked by pirates.
Thanks for the history lesson.
lol your history on the subject only goes as far back as I've told you but at least you know something now.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8220
Originally posted by Dr.Gonzo
Why would blacks or muslims work for Trump if he were a racist? You literally just destroyed any shred of credibility you had remaining. So are you admitting to being a propagandist who just attacked Trump on fictitious grounds?
My point is simple, if you believe in the morals you espouse you'll denounce Cenk.
I would imagine many of those asses in the comment section are Armenians who are upset by Cenks behavior, but of course you don't care about them.
Click on the following link, it's literally a newspaper article written by Cenk.
I will read your article from 1991, written by someone in college. Who may have a different stance today. What someone said 25 years ago does not make them a bad person. He was also a REP at the time. All I really care about is what he is saying today, do I agree with everything NO. Does he do a better News Show than any cable News Network. YES Do I agree with him more than anything you have posted. YES
So don't get all high & mighty on me. Talking about your morals. The guy that calls people fags, called me a savage, & denies the genocide of Native America people.
I mean who the fuk are you to talk. What a hypocritical douche bag. Now you see why I call you Dr Bozo.
LOL
Comment
larco15
SBR Sharp
12-06-09
329
#8221
Trump specifically called out Brussels.
0:38 begins.
Comment
khicks26
SBR Aristocracy
09-16-06
45704
#8222
Originally posted by brooks85
^khicks can't possibly destroy any more of his credibility unless he is going into negative numbers.
lol your history on the subject only goes as far back as I've told you but at least you know something now.
OH please Professor Brooks, give us your lopsided view of history.
Comment
Dr.Gonzo
SBR MVP
12-05-09
4660
#8223
Originally posted by larco15
Trump specifically called out Brussels.
0:38 begins.
This is a man with foresight.
Comment
brooks85
SBR Aristocracy
01-05-09
44709
#8224
Originally posted by khicks26
I will read your article from 1991, written by someone in college. Who may have a different stance today. What someone said 25 years ago does not make them a bad person. He was also a REP at the time. All I really care about is what he is saying today, do I agree with everything NO. Does he do a better News Show than any cable News Network. YES Do I agree with him more than anything you have posted. YES
So don't get all high & mighty on me. Talking about your morals. The guy that calls people fags, called me a savage, & denies the genocide of Native America people.
I mean who the fuk are you to talk. What a hypocritical douche bag. Now you see why I call you Dr Bozo.
LOL
lol...
and here is the culprit;
Comment
Dr.Gonzo
SBR MVP
12-05-09
4660
#8225
Originally posted by khicks26
I will read your article from 1991, written by someone in college. Who may have a different stance today. What someone said 25 years ago does not make them a bad person. He was also a REP at the time. All I really care about is what he is saying today, do I agree with everything NO. Does he do a better News Show than any cable News Network. YES Do I agree with him more than anything you have posted. YES
So don't get all high & mighty on me. Talking about your morals. The guy that calls people fags, called me a savage, & denies the genocide of Native America people.
I mean who the fuk are you to talk. What a hypocritical douche bag. Now you see why I call you Dr Bozo.
LOL
Well, the show is still called The Young Turks, so that speaks for itself.
If you care what he is saying today, find where he has apologized for his previous beliefs and conceded he was wrong.
It's not about me, it's about your hypocrisy, when I hold a mirror in front of you, you're the only one staring back.