Transcript [00:00] Well, well, well, the big troop drawdown [00:02] of NATO countries is actually happening. [00:05] And we talked about this over the last [00:06] couple of months that President Trump [00:08] being disappointed with the NATO allies [00:10] has also talked about withdrawing [00:12] troops. And people saw the two things as [00:14] as a part of the same exact headline [00:17] that the reason that Trump is pulling [00:19] out the troops is because he's [00:20] disappointed that so many of these NATO [00:21] countries wouldn't help out with the [00:24] Iran situation. But I pointed out that [00:26] this is actually a much more [00:28] well-thought-out and long-standing [00:30] policy of the Trump administration. But [00:32] let's take a look at what's actually [00:33] happening now. This is a big story [00:35] today. [00:37] So, here's the here's the Washington [00:39] Post. Pentagon says US will cut [00:41] thousands of troops from Europe. Poland [00:44] was set to receive forces whose [00:45] deployment was abruptly halted last [00:48] week. This is from today. The Pentagon [00:49] announced late Tuesday that it was [00:51] pausing the deployment of any additional [00:53] troops to NATO ally Poland as the Trump [00:56] administration moves forward with its [00:57] America first agenda and pulls thousands [01:00] of forces from Europe. The pause is part [01:02] of a reduction of US forces in Europe [01:05] from four brigade combat teams to three. [01:08] Units that each include as many as 4,000 [01:10] soldiers, tanks, and massive amounts of [01:12] support gear. President Donald Trump has [01:13] long pushed European countries to assume [01:16] a bigger role in their collective [01:17] defense. But in recent weeks, he has [01:19] seethed at what he sees as a lack of [01:21] support among core NATO allies for the [01:23] US-Israeli war against Iran. You see, [01:25] they're tying it directly to the war in [01:26] Iran. [01:27] In a statement, the Pentagon called [01:29] Poland a model US ally and said that [01:31] Defense Secretary Pete Hoekstra had [01:33] called Polish Deputy Prime Minister [01:35] Kosiniak-Kamysz [01:37] earlier in the day to assure him that [01:39] the US would retain a strong military [01:41] presence in Poland despite the planned [01:43] personnel reduction. [01:46] The troop reduction has deeply concerned [01:48] NATO allies as Russia continues its war [01:50] in Ukraine and threatens the alliance's [01:52] eastern flank. Okay. [01:55] Um [01:55] anything else in here? Yeah, so we and [01:58] we have some pushback from some uh, from [02:01] some of the less mega, I would say, [02:05] members of of Congress who don't like [02:08] this. [02:09] And [02:11] there you go. All right, let's take a [02:12] look at Vice President J.D. Vance [02:15] yesterday. Here's what he had to say. [02:17] So, uh, last week the Pentagon [02:21] halted [02:23] deployment of 4,000 troops, US troops, [02:26] in Poland, to Poland. [02:28] Uh, this is in direct contradiction to [02:31] President Trump explicitly promised not [02:34] to reduce the troop level in Poland. So, [02:38] I'm going to ask you this question, [02:40] which many people in in Poland think. [02:43] Why are you rewarding Putin and [02:46] punishing your best ally in Europe? [02:50] Well, first of all, I'd say there's been [02:52] no president who's done more, frankly, [02:54] to ensure that Ukraine survived the [02:58] invasion of Russia than Donald Trump. As [03:00] he famously said, Obama gave them [03:02] sheets, I gave them Javelins, and it was [03:03] those Javelins that ensured that Ukraine [03:05] still has its territorial sovereignty. [03:07] What he's also said is that he wants to [03:09] pursue an American policy that focused [03:10] on the interests of the United States. [03:12] And part of that foreign policy is not [03:15] to reward Putin or not to punish a [03:18] country like Poland, which we love. We [03:20] love Poland, we love the Polish people. [03:22] No, no, no, what we're trying to do, [03:24] what our foreign policy is geared [03:25] towards, is promoting European [03:28] independence and sovereignty. We want [03:31] Europe to take more ownership over its [03:33] own territorial integrity. We want [03:35] Europe to step up in a big way. Now, I [03:37] think you said 4,000 troops. We've not [03:40] reduced the troop levels in Poland by [03:42] 4,000 troops. What we did is that we [03:44] delayed a troop deployment that was [03:47] going to go to Poland. That's not a [03:48] reduction, that's just a standard delay [03:51] and rotation that sometimes happens in [03:52] these situations, but here here's the [03:54] fundamental problem. Poland is capable [03:59] of defending itself with a lot of [04:01] support from the United States. We're [04:02] not talking about pulling every single [04:04] American troop out of Europe. We're [04:06] talking about shifting some resources [04:08] around in a way that maximizes American [04:11] security. I don't think that's bad for [04:13] Europe. That's encouraging Europe to [04:15] take more ownership. The United States [04:17] cannot be the policeman of the world. We [04:19] want to be good allies. We want to make [04:21] sure that our troop presence promotes [04:23] regional stability in Europe. The [04:25] president has not said that we could. [04:27] The president has not said that he's [04:28] taking all of the troops out of Europe, [04:31] but Europe has to stand on its own two [04:33] feet, and that's something that he's [04:34] been consistent of. Frankly, not even [04:37] since the beginning of this [04:37] administration, going back to the first [04:40] administration, is we have got to have [04:42] more sovereignty and more of Europe [04:45] standing on its own two feet. That will [04:47] continue to be our policy in Europe. [04:50] Those troops will go eventually to [04:52] Poland? What I said is that it is a [04:55] delay in troop rotation. Those troops [04:57] could go elsewhere in Europe. We could [04:58] decide to send them elsewhere. We [04:59] actually haven't made the final [05:00] determination about where those troops [05:02] are ultimately going to go, but what I'm [05:04] saying is it is not accurate to say that [05:06] we are pulling a bunch of troops out. It [05:08] is a very small and very minor thing, [05:10] and I think frankly a lot of the [05:12] European media again it it is is [05:14] overreacting to this a bit. And here [05:15] here's one thing I'll say about about [05:17] this. Look, I have for my entire life, [05:20] I'm 41 years old. For my entire life, I [05:22] have heard chirping from the European [05:25] media about everything that's wrong with [05:27] the United States of America. We don't [05:29] have this. We don't have that. We don't [05:31] spend enough on health care, even though [05:34] part of the reason why we spend so much [05:36] on defense was because we have tens of [05:38] thousands of troops in Europe. I think [05:40] that if the European media wants to [05:42] attack the president of the United [05:43] States, they need to start looking in [05:45] the mirror. All he has said is that [05:47] we're going to be good allies, we're [05:48] going to be good friends, we're going to [05:50] be trading partners, but it is [05:52] reasonable for Europe to take a little [05:54] bit more ownership over its continental [05:57] integrity. [05:58] Support journalist [06:00] There you go. [06:01] So, like I mean, you know, the sense of [06:04] entitlement is unbelievable from from [06:06] that uh [06:07] you know, from that European journalist [06:09] that from that Polish journalist. Like, [06:10] you know, you're punishing Poland and [06:12] you're rewarding Putin. Like, and as [06:14] J.D. Vance made it very clear, like, [06:16] "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You can [06:18] defend yourself on your own. America [06:20] will help. America's more than happy to [06:22] help. America wants to help, but you [06:24] know, it's just incredible. And just [06:26] imagine if every US ally, if every one [06:28] of the NATO countries was like Israel, [06:30] where like, "We don't want your troops. [06:32] We don't want your personnel. We don't [06:33] want your your men in arms way on our [06:34] behalf. [06:36] But, we do want your help." [06:39] I mean, now Israel's even talking about [06:41] drawing down the military aid to zero. [06:43] But, [06:44] you know, the And this is where I've [06:45] talked about this so many times, the [06:46] whole aid discussion. Like, oh, Israel [06:48] gets all this aid and, you know, these [06:50] you NATO countries don't get aid. Yeah, [06:51] they don't get aid. They get All they [06:53] get is tens of thousands, hundreds of [06:55] thousands of troops all over Europe in [06:57] the United States. What does that cost? [06:59] That defense spending, defending these [07:01] European nations. So, it's just so [07:02] ridiculous to, you know, where people [07:04] think of Israel as a drain on the US [07:06] Treasury, but these NATO allies these [07:08] allies are not. [07:10] Uh whatever, that's just an Israel [07:12] point. But, here you see, you know, this [07:13] was excellent pushback by uh [07:16] by uh Vice President J.D. Vance. [07:18] And also, I've pointed this out many [07:20] times, the [07:22] the national security strategy document [07:24] that was published by the Trump [07:26] administration. [07:27] Uh that document was published it, you [07:29] know, months before the Iran war. This [07:31] isn't about the Iran war. Here's the [07:33] national security strategy document. And [07:36] on page 29 of it, it says right here, [07:38] "Promoting European greatness." [07:41] And it speaks about everything going on [07:43] in Europe. [07:45] And it speaks about the lack of [07:46] self-confidence in Europe. [07:49] Should present trends continue, the [07:50] continent will be unrecognizable in 20 [07:52] years or less. [07:55] As such, it is far from obvious whether [07:57] certain European countries will have [07:58] economies and militaries strong enough [08:00] to remain reliable allies. [08:04] We want Europe to remain European. This [08:06] lack of self-confidence is most evident [08:07] in Europe's relationship with Russia. [08:09] European allies enjoy significant hard [08:11] power advantage over Russia by almost [08:13] every measure save nuclear weapons. As a [08:16] result of Russia's war in Ukraine, [08:17] European relations with Russia are now [08:19] deeply attenuated and many Europeans [08:21] regard Russia as an existential threat. [08:24] Managing European relations with Russia [08:25] will require significant US diplomatic [08:27] engagement [08:29] both to reestablish conditions of [08:30] strategic stability across Europe the [08:32] Eurasian landmass and to mitigate the [08:34] risk of conflict. So, in other words, [08:36] the US understands that it will be [08:38] involved in these things. [08:40] But [08:44] our goal is to help Europe correct its [08:46] current trajectory. We will need a [08:48] strong Europe to help us successfully [08:50] compete. [08:52] Over the long term, it is more than [08:53] plausible that within a few decades at [08:55] the latest, certain NATO members will [08:57] become majority non-European. As such, [09:00] it is an open question [09:01] whether they will view their place in [09:04] the world or their alliance with the [09:05] United States in the same way as those [09:07] who signed the NATO charter. That's [09:08] talking about the Islamization of [09:10] Europe. [09:11] And the United States wants [09:14] they they want strong allies. They want [09:16] allies who can who can share in the [09:18] burden who can share in the burden of [09:21] their own defense. That's all they're [09:22] looking for here. There's a There's a [09:24] section on that. [09:28] Uh there's a section on burden sharing. [09:30] Here we go. [09:32] Look at this. This is one of the key [09:33] components of this document. Burden [09:35] sharing and burden shifting. The days of [09:37] the United States propping up the entire [09:39] world order like Atlas are over. We [09:41] count among our many allies and partners [09:43] dozens of wealthy, sophisticated nations [09:45] that must assume primary responsibility [09:47] for their regions and contribute far [09:50] more to our collective defense. [09:53] President Trump has set a new global [09:54] standard with the Hague commitment. [09:56] That's the commitment to [09:57] which pledges five NATO which pledges [09:59] NATO countries to spend 5% on GDP of GDP [10:02] on defense and which our NATO allies [10:04] have endorsed and must now meet. [10:06] Continuing President Trump's approach of [10:08] asking allies to assume primary [10:10] responsibility for their regions, the [10:12] United States will organize a burden [10:13] sharing network [10:15] with our government as convener and [10:17] supporter. This approach ensures that [10:19] burdens are shared. [10:22] Right? The United States will stand [10:23] ready to help [10:26] potentially through more favorable [10:27] treatment on commercial matters, [10:28] technology sharing, defense procurement [10:30] to those countries that willingly take [10:32] more responsibility [10:34] in that for security in their [10:36] neighborhoods and align [10:38] their export controls with ours. [10:41] Right? That's that's the basics of it. [10:44] And here is [10:45] this is this gentleman you see on your [10:47] screen here. His name is Alexis [10:50] Grinkevich. Alexis Grinkevich, he's the [10:52] American general. He serves as the [10:54] commander of the United States European [10:56] Command and Supreme Allied Commander in [10:58] Europe. And he's held that position [11:00] since last July. [11:02] And he said [11:06] Well, he said this in a press [11:07] conference. In accordance with President [11:09] Trump's announcement, it'll be 5,000 [11:11] troops [11:12] coming out of Europe. As I mentioned in [11:15] my opening comments, a fair number of [11:17] those come from the armored brigade [11:19] combat team that is returning. [11:22] And the US has also already announced [11:23] that the previously planned appointment [11:25] of a long-range fires battalion [11:27] will be [11:28] curtailed and uh will start occurring. [11:32] There's some other additional uh minor [11:34] elements that'll be shifting as well. Uh [11:36] the planning is still ongoing for what [11:37] those are uh for an another several [11:40] hundred troops. Uh and so we we can talk [11:42] about that a little bit later, but uh [11:44] the the the total number is 5,000. On on [11:47] your question of, you know, how does it [11:48] how does it impact us? Uh you know, [11:50] since uh the rotational brigade uh that [11:53] is returning now without replacement [11:54] showed up in 2022, a a lot has happened [11:57] in the alliance. First off, the Baltic [11:59] allies uh uh and the uh and and the [12:02] Poles and many others have really built [12:03] up uh their their ground combat power. [12:07] There you have it. The Baltic allies, [12:09] those countries that have stepped up, [12:11] they've they've listened to what's in [12:12] this document that I just shared with [12:14] you. [12:14] Where it says in there that uh it talks [12:17] about the Eastern European [12:21] It talks about the Eastern European [12:23] allies. [12:24] Right in here. [12:26] That Where is it? [12:28] Building up help the healthy nations of [12:30] Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe [12:32] through commercial ties, weapon sales, [12:34] political collaboration, and cultural [12:36] and educational exchanges. [12:38] The United States is willing to help [12:40] those countries that are willing to help [12:42] themselves. [12:43] And so he's attributing the troop [12:46] drawdown partially to the fact that [12:47] these European nations are actually [12:49] stepping up more. Now, at the same press [12:51] conference, NATO chief Mark Rutte spoke [12:54] to the um [12:56] in this and he took questions from the [12:58] crowd and you see the attitude of these [13:01] European journalists about what this is [13:03] about. They want to make this all about [13:05] Trump being a bad guy. Look at how Rutte [13:08] responds. [13:10] Secretary General Andrew Gray from [13:11] Reuters. Good morning. Good morning. You [13:13] have said that you have a no surprises [13:16] agreement with President Trump in terms [13:18] of the transition to a greater European [13:20] role in NATO. But what we've seen over [13:22] the last couple of [13:24] weeks is repeated surprises over this [13:27] announcement about a drawdown of US [13:29] troops. First it was meant to be coming [13:30] from Germany, now it's meant to be [13:32] coming from Poland. Nobody's very clear [13:34] about the numbers. Even the Polish [13:36] government doesn't it seem to know [13:37] what's happening. And NATO itself said [13:40] it was seeking to clarify with the US [13:43] when it made the initial announcement. [13:45] So doesn't this mean that it's not no [13:46] surprises, it's turned into surprise [13:48] central and that undermines your [13:50] deterrence? [13:52] I will answer your question, but let me [13:53] first zone out [13:55] for for a few Not for a few minutes, I [13:57] won't be that long. But let me first [13:59] zone out and then I'll get to your [14:00] question. [14:01] Um [14:02] what is happening at the moment, um and [14:04] this is taking place now [14:06] since February last year, is that the [14:08] Europeans and the Canadians are [14:10] massively stepping up in terms of [14:12] defense spending as [14:14] Okay, February of last year is the Hague [14:16] Convention where Trump [14:19] uh [14:20] got the commitment from the NATO allies [14:22] to spend 5% of GDP on defense. That's [14:25] what he's talking about there. As I [14:26] mentioned before, Germany will spend by [14:27] 2029 over 150 billion euros. [14:31] That's over 175 billion dollars. [14:34] Uh twice as much as in 2021. We see this [14:37] all over Europe. My country, the whole [14:40] of the [14:41] European all the European allies and [14:43] Canada, the whole of the alliance on 2% [14:45] and including the bigger economies. So [14:47] this is massively taking part [14:49] at this moment happening. You heard the [14:51] US Vice President yesterday. [14:53] I totally agreed with him. Europe has to [14:56] take a bigger role, Europe will take a [14:58] bigger role together with Canada. [15:00] A stronger Europe in is stronger NATO [15:03] taking more of the responsibility for [15:05] the conventional defense. And yes, the [15:07] US will stay involved in Europe also [15:09] over time, of course, when it comes to [15:11] the nuclear, but also when it comes to [15:13] the conventional. [15:15] >> [snorts] [15:15] >> Against that background, we know that [15:18] adjustments will take place. The US has [15:20] to pivot more towards, for example, [15:22] Asia. This will take place over time in [15:24] a structured way. What you have clearly [15:26] heard yesterday from uh the Supreme [15:29] Allied Commander, from uh General Cavit, [15:32] uh when it comes to this announcement, [15:34] uh the 4,000 to 5,000, it is rotational [15:37] forces not having an impact on NATO's uh [15:41] defense plans. [15:43] Okay, and [15:44] Okay, so so there's Sorry, I got it [15:46] wrong. The the uh Supreme Allied [15:48] Commander who I played the clip before [15:49] that was yesterday. That wasn't the same [15:51] press conference, but it's the same [15:52] event. It's this big [15:54] NATO meeting that they're having. So, [15:55] you see there that Rutte is actually [15:57] parroting uh [15:59] you know, what Trump has been saying, [16:00] that listen, this is a good thing. [16:02] European More European involvement is [16:04] better. We're moving from 2% to 5%. [16:06] Countries are spending more money. [16:07] They're taking more responsibility. This [16:08] is all a very good thing. Now, there's [16:10] another question from the French press. [16:13] And second row here, AFP. [16:16] Uh thanks so much, Secretary General. [16:18] Mike Steleny, AFP. Um just following up [16:20] on this um subject, [16:23] uh [16:24] you said structured, but this seems [16:25] anything but structured. So, how do you [16:27] respond to this notion that this is uh [16:30] punitive, impulsive from President Trump [16:32] against Germany for speaking out against [16:35] against him? And then secondly, on a [16:37] related note, um [16:40] uh this uh new the force model is [16:42] expected to be agreed on by um defense [16:46] policy people on Friday. The US expects [16:50] Why do they expect it by in Europe to [16:52] massively reduce the number of its [16:54] forces? Do you expect them to reduce the [16:56] number of forces available to SACEUR, [16:57] and what message will this send over the [17:00] US commitment to Europe? Hey, the NATO [17:03] force model and US contribution to the [17:05] NATO force model. This is a debate which [17:07] started again a year ago. This is why [17:10] Europe is spending so much more [17:12] uh to basically end the over-reliance [17:16] over [17:17] on one ally when it comes to defense of [17:20] the over totality of NATO of NATO [17:22] territory. This is why European and [17:24] Canadian allies are increasing their [17:26] spending, increasing their capabilities, [17:28] massively investing in the defense [17:30] industrial base on both sides of the [17:31] Atlantic. [17:33] When it comes to the NATO force model, [17:34] we have two processes in place. This is [17:37] normal business. [17:38] Um so [17:40] this was to be expected. I think it is [17:43] only right that happens. What exactly [17:45] will be the announcement? You have to [17:46] wait till later. I'm not allowed to [17:48] disclose that. [17:50] Um but I think this is exactly as we [17:52] expected and absolutely within the realm [17:55] of the no surprises approach. [18:00] There you go. You see You see the [18:01] hostility of the media where he's saying [18:04] that oh, this is all, you know, Trump [18:05] lashing out. It's a temper tantrum. He's [18:08] just punishing Germany. And there's some [18:10] element to that and Trump definitely [18:11] wants wants to call them out and wants [18:13] to show that the king has no clothes and [18:14] that these NATO allies are actually [18:16] impotent and need to step up. So Trump [18:18] does use humiliation [18:20] as a tactic of diplomacy. There is no [18:22] doubt. [18:24] Uh but this is all a good thing. This is [18:26] all very good. It's very healthy and and [18:29] you know, you see Rutte is really [18:30] pushing back on this on any negative [18:32] spin that they're trying to put on [18:34] Trump. And I'm he's not the only one. [18:36] Take a look at this article. US [18:38] leadership has made NATO stronger than [18:40] ever, Minister of North Macedonia tells [18:42] Euro News. This whole article about this [18:44] where he's praising what Trump is doing [18:46] and he's actually made [18:47] you know, by forcing NATO to step up, [18:50] pay more, take more responsibility, and [18:52] of course the threats and the [18:53] humiliation are a part of that. That's [18:55] part of the way Trump operates. [18:57] But he's actually made NATO into a [18:58] stronger alliance. Now, there's still [19:00] the big question hovering over the whole [19:02] thing, which is which I raised from the [19:03] national security strategy document, [19:06] which is what about the Islamization of [19:07] of Europe? What's going to happen to [19:08] these European countries? If they start [19:11] producing more troops of their own, [19:13] let's say, who who are those troops? [19:16] Who are those people? Who's serving in [19:18] those militaries? Are all these these [19:20] massive young Muslims, like the younger [19:22] population in these European countries, [19:24] skews more towards [19:25] uh the children of the immigrant [19:27] populations. [19:28] Are we going to start seeing European [19:30] armies that are heavily populated by [19:32] Muslims, or are the armies still going [19:34] to be made up of the older European [19:36] uh [19:37] natives? [19:38] Should be interesting to see. [19:40] But either way, this is this is the [19:42] stronger [19:43] uh NATO, a stronger NATO as a result of [19:46] Trump's policies. So, it's really a [19:47] win-win in the long term. [19:50] And and and Trump is uh, you know, he he [19:52] he's tak- he's approached to everything [19:55] is there's no reason to just keep [19:57] existing problematic, dysfunctional [20:00] systems going [20:02] just because they've been there a long [20:03] time. [20:04] It's the same approach to the Iranian [20:05] regime. Everyone else kicks the can down [20:07] the road for 47 years, and then it it [20:09] feels like, "Oh, that's just the way it [20:10] is. You got to live with it." No, you [20:11] don't. You can change things. [20:13] And Trump takes that approach to so many [20:15] uh different aspects of policy, [20:18] and thank God that he does. [20:20] Uh so, yeah, there you have it. That's [20:21] my That's my report on what is going on [20:24] with the NATO alliance and with this [20:26] whole troop drawdown. We're seeing it [20:28] happen. Trump said he was going to do [20:29] it, and very quickly we now see it [20:31] happening. I think we're going to see [20:32] more of this. If it stays here and it's [20:34] just a drawdown of 5,000 troops, and [20:36] that's the end of it, then it's not very [20:37] much. That's a very That's a tiny [20:39] percentage of the US footprint in [20:41] Europe. So, we'll have to see what the [20:43] next steps are. We're going to be [20:44] watching this closely. Thanks for [20:46] watching. God bless.
