PRESIDENT TRUMP’S distorted foreign policy was exemplified this week in the contrast between his meeting with Arab autocrats, on whom he lavished goodwill, and U.S. NATO allies, whom he harshly and publicly critiqued.
Last weekend, Mr. Trump promised Saudi Arabia and other Sunni dictatorships that they “will never question our support,” adding, “We are not here to lecture.” But on Thursday he declined to restate the U.S. commitment to defend its democratic European allies if they are attacked, as Article 5 of the NATO treaty provides. Instead, Mr. Trump restated his wrongheaded and erroneous charge that allied governments “owe massive amounts” for military defense, and quarreled with the president of the European Council over climate change and the threat posed by Russia.
Continue reading here.