President Donald Trump "failed" in his first NATO meeting, The New York Times wrote in its Friday editorial, asking — "What possesses him to treat America's allies so badly?"
Trump's preaching to member countries about pitching in their fair share has some validity, to a point, except that the president's broken-record approach seems to imply he still doesn't see the forest through the trees, the Times wrote.
"His obsession with the matter has reinforced the impression that he sees NATO as essentially a transactional arrangement, not as an indisputably important alliance that has kept the peace for 70 years and whose value cannot be measured in dollars and cents," The Times wrote.
"Against this history, Mr. Trump's repeated scolds are not just condescending but embarrassing. What possesses him to treat America's allies so badly?"
Or, perhaps worse, he really doesn't believe in NATO's founding principle - banding together to protect Europe and the West from Russian aggression.
"Mr. Trump's commitment to NATO and America's tradition of leadership remain very much up in the air. Should the president abdicate both, no one would be happier than Vladimir Putin," The Times concluded.
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