Saudi Arabia unveils official identity and slogan for 95th National Day    Heritage Commission reports 24 violations of archaeological sites and artifacts in July    Saudi Arabia to host forum on Hajj and Two Holy Mosques history in November    Three convicted in Riyadh for commercial concealment in mobile accessories trade    BP says it makes biggest oil and gas find in 25 years    Aramco posts $50.9 billion H1 profit amid volatile oil market    A global milestone: Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah receives accreditation for 14 Centers of Excellence from SRC    Tariff showdown shatters once robust populist alliance between Trump and Modi    EU diplomats confirm they won't yet sanction Israel on Gaza    Disfigured, shamed and forgotten: Korean survivors of the Hiroshima bomb    US attorney general orders grand jury hearings on Trump-Russia probe    Danish zoo asks for unwanted pets to feed its predators    Saudi Arabia's 'Terhal' returns with immersive second edition in Diriyah    Salm Al-Dawsari returns to Al Hilal training after injury layoff    Saudi central bank submits new banking draft law to legislative authorities    Al Qadsiah sign Saudi starlet Musab Al Juwayr from Al Hilal    Saudi defender Saud Abdulhamid joins RC Lens on loan from AS Roma    Riyadh Comedy Festival tickets now on sale for world's biggest stand-up event    Sotheby's returns Buddha jewels to India after uproar    Nissan Formula E Team celebrates a landmark season 11 with proud Saudi sponsor Electromin    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Trump shocks his NATO allies
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 30 - 05 - 2017

US President Donald Trump has left NATO leaders reeling after his uncompromising statements about their refusal to meet their financial commitments to the Alliance and their trust to American military investment to do the hefting to protect the continent.
It was an extraordinary spectacle to see EU leaders standing in a line while Trump lambasted them collectively. In the end a few of them snickered to each other when the president appeared to demonstrate a loose grasp on some of his facts. However their embarrassment was clear. Trump was stepping outside the bounds of normal diplomatic language. It is always assumed that politicians sometimes row and yell at each behind closed doors. But once out in the public gaze, at worst they hint at disagreements in statements that are generally packed with redundant verbiage. Not for Trump. He gave his fellow NATO leaders both barrels.
The result is that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already said that Europe can no longer rely on the United States and should take its destiny in its own hands. This was not the outcome that Trump may have wanted. But unlike his successful visit last week here in the Kingdom, the president left some ruffled feathers in Europe. The way he elbowed aside the premier of Montenegro to put himself in the front row for a photo-call was caught by the world's media. The posture he then struck was compared to that of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Then there were the handshakes, particularly that with France's new president, Emmanuel Macron. Trump appeared to wrench the Frenchman's arm almost out of its socket then squeeze the hand really hard. However Macron got his own back with a later handshake when he himself gripped Trump's hand so forcefully, footage showed it turning white. The American straightened his fingers and pulled them away, so uncomfortable was the grasp.
This apparently petty stuff unfortunately points to more serious differences that have clearly arisen between the suave and cultured European leaders and the no-nonsense and not obviously cultivated Trump. This is a pity and it is dangerous. American voters chose Trump because they were fed up with the liberal establishment's blithe and elitist determination to do what it considered right regardless of the concerns of ordinary people. Trump's rejection of man-made climate change is actually also a rejection of the Green agenda, which at its most extreme considers humankind to be a cancer destroying the world and has called for radical reductions in population, without specifying how.
There is a strong argument that the climate science has become politicized and that consensus among scientists somehow validates policies, which are still based on tenuous research. Trump, however, has not made the anti-Green case that the world has survived major warming and cooling cycles before.
The international community needs to be challenged. No idea is so absolutely good that it cannot benefit from being debated further. Here then perhaps is a case of the right message but the wrong person delivering it. Ever since he won the White House Trump has been the target of unprecedented personal abuse by an aggrieved liberal establishment. America's EU allies ought to be thinking about what Trump says instead of sticking their fingers in their ears and singing "La-la-la-la" and sneering and mocking the leader of the free world as gauche, unsophisticated and ill informed.


Clic here to read the story from its source.