Idiot which trump called an amazing theatrical experience, maybe less amazing if American Idiot is now directed at you dont want to be an American Idiot jeanne moos, cnn, new york. And thanks for joining us. Ac 360 with anderson starts now. Its like the world gone crazy this morning. Trumps performance was beyond belief. Good evening, everyone. That quote is from a senior european diplomat talking to cnn about the nato summit in brussels and what the president said there today. Now, this diplomat we should point out is not alone. The western allies have been talking about it. The russians vietnam be talking about it. The world, and tonight so will we. Yet as shocking as it may be to our allies, as troubling as it is to some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, it should not be surprising whether voters at the time gave it much credence. What happened today in brussels is what donald trump campaigned on. He said he was going to do this. Its the distilled essence of what he has believed, in fact, for years. The problem is the beliefs he campaigned on and tweeted about and stirred up crowds with on the stump, they do not happen to be based in fact, and the concern is he either does not know or does not care to know, or worse that he does know better but chooses instead to disregard the facts to make some larger point. Now just to be clear, you can believe a 70yearold Military Alliance against soviet and now russian expansion is a good idea or not. You can agree or disagree with the central premise of it, that an take on one nato country is an attack on all. You can take issue with any number of aspects with nato, and later in the program well talk to someone who does just that however, the president s main grievance, which he expressed today at a Summit Breakfast simply is not factual. Many countries are not paying what they should. And frankly, many countries owe us a tremendous amount of money for many years back where theyre delinquent, as far as im concerned, because the United States has had to pay for them. The president s suggestion is that nato is a dues paying organization that members chip in to some pot for collective defense, that they dont pay their fair share, they havent been for years, and they owe the u. S. Money. Keeping him honest, as youll see, that is simply not the case. Its not the way it works. Its not even close. It is, however, the way President Trump believes it works, and he said so for years. Number one, nato is obsolete. And number two, the people arent paying their way. Its obsolete and we pay too much money. Nato, were going to have the people that arent paying, theyre going to start paying. Its obsolete. They were getting ripped in nato. They dont pay their bills. They are delinquent. So, as you see, he campaigned on the notion. He was electeded on it. He tweeted about it through the presidency, including on the flight over saying many countries in nato, which we are expected to defend are not only short of their current commitment of 2 which is low, but are also delinquent for many
years in payments which have not been made. Will they reimburse the u. S. . Keeping them honest, there is nothing to reimburse beyond a token amount to keep the lights on in brussels, each Member Nation play pays nothing for collective defense, zero. Members have their own Defense Budgets and have agreed to spend 2 of gdp on defense by 2024. As you can see some have already hit the target. Some have not. And yes, the United States does spend far more than any other nato country, and yes, past american president , including the most recent one have criticized nato numbers for not spending enough on defense. Past president s have referred to Burden Sharing, even used words like contributing. They have not, however, said or suggested that other nato countries owe the United States money, let alone back payments, which again these countries do not. And other president s have openly recognized that nato Member Nations contribute to the forward bases that allow the u. S. To be a Global Military superpower, also, that many sent soldiers who died for news
afghanistan after 9 11 because the nato treaty, article 5 calls for just that. In any case, the president believes theyre freeloading, and today he demand Member Nations not only meet the 2 goal immediately, he told them to double the target to 4 of gdp, an amount even the u. S. Doesnt spend. He also singled out germany for additional criticism. But germany, as far as im concerned is captive to russia because its getting so much of its energy from russia. We have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars thats being paid to the country that were supposed to be protecting you against. The president expanded on that in a tweet, explicitly connecting or conflating the idea of defending europe with getting paid. Quote, what good is nato, he writes, if germany is paying russia billions of dollars for gas and energy. Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met that commitment . The u. S. Is paying for europes protection and then loses on trade. Must pay 2 of gdp immediately,
not by 2025. This may be shocking to many. Its not, however, a surprise. The president campaigned on much of this. But now that he is acting on it, even some leading republicans are speaking up, albeit in fairly gentle way. Yesterday democrats and independents passed a nonbinding resolution in support of nato which for seven decades hasnt been especially controversial. Today the outgoing chairman of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee weighed in. They believe americas leadership Around The World has made the world safer for americans, and made the world a better place. And when i see that leadership diminishing and us trying to break apart alliances that we created, it troubles me. Troubles him. Unclear, though, if it also troubles President Trump. That, however, unclear. The president s next stop is the uk tomorrow morning. British Prime Minister theresa may saying tonight, and im quoting here, there is no
partners to 4 of gdp. They said they have been saying, and you mentioned it just a few moments ago that they wanted to get to 2 of each members gdp by 2024. 4 is obviously a pretty big load for some of these countries. Its been a burden that has been shouldered by the u. S. For some time, but, anderson, beyond that, what is a concern to diplomats in the european community, and i talked to some of them. Some of our colleagues have been talking to them is that the president seems to have a pattern. That is he goes to summits, he goes to events Around The World, and he bashes his allies in europe and Around The World and seems to be cozying up to dictators and undemocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin. That is a big concern to european leaders and other nato members here, and that is surprising. Also, his comments about germany basically being under the thumb of russia fascinating. Its so for a president who has been accused of being under the thumb of russia, for him to
lob that specific criticism at germany is, you know, its either brilliant or fascinate organize disturbing, i guess, depending on how you look at it. Absolutely. It sounds like the president is engaging in what aboutism instead of responding to criticism that he is too cozy with russian president Vladimir Putin. He is saying, well, what about germany being dependent on russian gas and fuel . The fact is, anderson, and you know this, most people know this who have followed this, the germans have been buying russian fuel dating back to the early 2000s, predating Vladimir Putins aggressive stance on The World Stage. And so the president is bringing this up in sort of a misleading way. What we do know is that while the president brought this accusation up in front of the Nato Secretary General earlier today, saying that germany was somehow being held captive by
russia, he did not say this publicly in front of the cameras when he was sitting alongside Angela Merkel, the german chancellor. He didnt say it alongside the french president emmanuel macron. This topic was brought up with both of those leaders when the president was sitting down with both of those leaders, and he declined to really engage with those leaders on that particular issue. So the president seems to want to throw his weight around on The World Stage and engage in some pretty fiery rhetoric, but when he had a chance to do it in front of the two world leaders, he didnt choose to do so. So anderson, i think the question that a lot of european leaders, a lot of u. S. Allies are leaving the summit with is how serious the president is about the bluster, but it does make them concerned about the mindset he is taking in to that meeting with the russian president Vladimir Putin because there are so many very big and important issues on the line when he meets with Vladimir Putin coming up in finland on monday. Anderson . Yeah, its fascinating to see a world leader be tough everywhere except when theyre facetoface with the actual person that they are being critical of. Its an interesting strategy. Jim acosta, i appreciate it. Thanks very much. Obviously the president goes to will be in london tomorrow. Joining us now is author and retired Army Lieutenant colonel ralph peters. Lieutenant colonel peters, first, the president s claims about payments to nato. What do you think it is . A willful gross misunderstanding. I think in the beginning it was a misunderstanding that he jumped on, but now its a technique to throw red meat to his base. Trump thrives on disruption. And the irony, anderson, is although we pay over 3 of our gdp, about 3. 2, to 3. 2 to defense, if you broke it out given our commitments Around The World, far less than 2 goes to nato, is in support of nato. Were in the pacific. Were in the war against terror. Were in space. So on so many levels, the claim is false. But beyond the sound and fury, what matters is that nato is a
embar bargain for the United States. Its cheaper than war. And it is the most successful Peacetime Alliance in history. It has made allies of european states that fought each other for centuries right up to 1945. Its helped us. It gives us bases. And so trumps attacks on nato, i think partly he doesnt want to backtrack and admit he was wrong, but also, with trump virtually every trail for me leads to the kremlin. And youre saying this leads to the kremlin in what way . In the sense that trump is, for whatever reason, and i have my own suspicions, certainly, trump is both enamored and fearful of Vladimir Putin. If you look at his pattern, he is afraid to say anything critical of Vladimir Putin. Its another issue, but to me i just think the russians have the goods on this guy, and thats the only explanation i can come up with. But in the meantime, we are
faced with real damage, real immediate and perhaps some irreparable damage to this greatest of alliances, nato. And it was fascinating to me today to watch Angela Merkel and macron dealing with trump. It was like watching psychiatrists patiently deal with a disturbed child. Trump my god, he is not only shaming our nation, he is doing real damage to our security, to our interests and to our allies. And Vladimir Putin could not be happier. You know, one of the things thats often said about President Trump is that he attacks people on the very things that hes been attacked on or been criticized for, talking about russia talking about germany being captive to russia. The irony of that is kind of extraordinary. Well, im glad you raised, that because one thing trump is
indisputably brilliant at is propaganda. He knows how to control the media. Were talking about him right now. We talk about him virtually every day on the air. And his genius is using traditional propagandistic Deck Techniques where when youre backed into a corner over an issue, you lash out and accuse your enemy or foe of the same issues the way when he is backed into the corner in russia he accuses Hillary Clinton of making an uranium deal which was really peripheral. Now he is backed into the corner over this upcoming summit with putin. And what does he do . He lashes out at germany. Oh, the germans, theyre worse than us. Theyre controlled by russia. First of all, he has a strategic concern that Angela Merkel inherited from gerhard schrader, the previous chancellor who was in fact germanys donald trump and she is doing the best to deal with it. Angela merkel has been the
greatest chancellor germany has had since conrad in the early post years. She is The Last Man Standing in europe. She has held the Alliance Together against putin. She has held the sanctions together. Trump dislikes her because she is a plain middle aged woman who talks back to her. And putin hates her because she is plain middle aged woman who talks back to him and imposes sanctions on him. And she is an admiral leader. I wish we had a leader like that ourselves. For all the mistakes she made, she has been a brilliant chancellor, and we have a fool for president. Colonel peterson, appreciate your time. As we mentioned at the top of the program, candidate trump said he was going to do what he said today, calling nato obsolete. Coming up including Christiane Amanpour is going to join us. Also, another adviser to the president is making biblical comparisons when talking about the administrations policy of separating kids from parents at the border. Those comparisons are not going
oth over so well. Details on that ahead. Before nexium 24hr mark could only imagine. A peaceful night sleep without frequent heartburn waking him up. Now that dream is a reality. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . Directv gives you more for your thing. If youve been waiting for a sign to quit cable, then heres some signs. It came from the toaster. Now you can quit cable. Switch to directv and now get a 100 reward card. More for your quitting cable thing. Thats our thing. Call 1 800 directv. So, howell. Going . We had a vacation early in our marriage that kinda put us in a hole. Go someplace exotic . Yeah, bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. What . What happened . I got a little overconfident on a moped. Even with insurance, we had to dip into our 401 k so it set us back a little bit. Sometimes you dont have a choice. But it doesnt mean you cant get back on track. Great. Yeah, great. Id like to go back to bermuda. I hear its nice. Yeah, id like to see it. No judgment. Just guidance. Td ameritrade. But its tough to gete enough of their nutrients. New one a day with natures medley is the only complete multivitamin with antioxidants from one total serving of fruits and veggies try new one a day with natures medley. your heart doesnt only belong to you. Child bye, grandpa and if you have Heart Failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. Entresto is a Heart Failure medicine that helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. In the largest Heart Failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading Heart Failure medicine. Dont take entresto if pregnant. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an Ace Inhibitor or aliskiren, or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. And help make more tomorrows possible. Entresto, for Heart Failure. Thats the same thing i want to do with you. Its an emotional thing to watch your child grow up
and especially get behind the wheel. I want to keep you know, stacking up the memories and the miles and the years. Hes Gonna Get Mine but im gonna get a new one. Oh yeah when its time for your old chevy truck to become their new chevy truck, theres truck month. Get 18 of msrp cash back on all silverado 1500 Crew Cab Lt Pickups when you finance with gm financial. Thats 9,000 on this silverado. Plus, during truck month make no Monthly Payments for 90 days. Thats 9,000 on this silverado. And we got to know the friends of our friends. R the friends. And we found others just like us. And just like that we felt a little less alone. But then something happened. We had to deal with spam, fake news, and data misuse. Thats going to change. From now on, facebook will do more to keep you safe and protect your privacy. Because when this place does what it was built for, then we all get a little closer. Proven to protect Street Skaters and freestylers. Stops up to 97 uv. Lasts through heat. Through sweat. Coppertone. Proven to protect