Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown said Monday that “US credibility is at stake” in the wake of comments from former President Donald Trump that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO partners that don’t meet spending guidelines on defense.

Asked by “NBC Nightly News” about Trump’s admission that he would not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of NATO if reelected, Brown said that the alliance is strong and has been around for 75 years.

“I think we have a responsibility to uphold those alliances,” Brown told NBC’s Lester Holt in an interview airing Monday evening. “US credibility is at stake with each of our alliances, and US leadership is still needed, wanted, and watched.”

  • aelwero@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I absolutely defy the implication that US credibility is in any way whatsoever reflected by trump… Even if he manages to get elected again, he’d still obviously not be representing all of the US…

    It’s like saying all Canadians are super liberal because they elected Trudeau… People know better.

    I’d go with “reputation”, but not credibility.

    • Algaroth@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Trump pulled out of pretty much every deal and treaty Obama had made and started trade wars with US allies. This has made diplomacy significantly harder for the US because now we all know that any deal we make with the US is only good until possibly the next election. This means it will be harder for the US to make any deal with any nation and the US are as reliant on global trade as everyone else. It’s similar to Brexit where the UK leadership basically told all their allies to eat shit. It’s going to be a while until they get any good deals with the EU.

    • no banana@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      The problem is he would represent the US. That would be his job, even if you personally do not feel represented. What he decides to do geopolitically is what the United States does. It doesn’t matter that half the people didn’t vote for him. He’s the spokesman. That’s how elections work.

      • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It doesn’t matter that half the people didn’t vote for him.

        It’s even worse than that. In 2020 only (66%) of the voting age population voted, which was the highest turnout since at least 1990. In most midterm elections the voter turnout is often less than (50%). So Donald Trump could conceivably win the presidency after only receiving votes from (1/3) of the voting age population, which is completely fucking insane.

        • no banana@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          I know. Turnout is a problem in the US. My point still stands however. If you don’t vote, if you don’t vote for him, and he still wins he represents the United States. So vote, and don’t vote for him.

          • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Oh I know. I agree with your points. I just personally find it disheartening to realize that Donald Trump might be allowed back in the White House due to less than 1% of the vote in a handful of states. The Electoral College has got to fucking go.

    • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      What exactly do you think “credibility” is? It doesn’t mean everyone in that country agrees with the leader in power - that literally doesn’t matter.

      Trumps erratic behaviour has torched a lot of US credibility in international relations, because it shows that whatever the US might say and do during a sane administration, they’re never more than 4 years away from potentially torching everything just for shits and giggles and descending into conducting international relations based on toddler tantrums. Trump’s torching of the Iran deal burned all the moderates in that country and now the the US has no credibility to negotiate another one (even if that were possible in the current situation) because all parties know the next guy might just reverse it out if spite. This is true even if you think the Iran deal was bad.

    • Suspiciousbrowsing@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      Of course your credibility is impacted. From a non-US citizen I thought it was ridiculous the first time he was elected and had headline after headline of ridiculous changes / events. The fact that he is now the preferred candidate AFTER what he did as president is already enough to tarnish America’s credibility

      • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Yep, if half your population supports a racist moron, half your population are racist morons. It couldn’t really be any simpler

        • P1r4nha@feddit.de
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          10 months ago

          The thing is: It’s 30%, but leave it to the US to call themselves a democracy and completely defy the understanding of other democratic countries.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    10 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown said Monday that “US credibility is at stake” in the wake of comments from former President Donald Trump that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO partners that don’t meet spending guidelines on defense.

    Asked by “NBC Nightly News” about Trump’s admission that he would not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of NATO if reelected, Brown said that the alliance is strong and has been around for 75 years.

    Brown’s remarks come as Trump, the 2024 Republican front-runner, has come under fire for his comments over the weekend indicating he does not intend to defend NATO allies from Russian attack if he is reelected.

    According to NBC, Brown said that he realizes there will be “various dialogue in discussions at the political level,” but that he will focus on “continuing to build and strengthen our relationship with NATO.”

    Milley chose to deliver the scathing criticism of his former boss in his last address as the nation’s top general as he stood next to President Joe Biden.

    In a continuation of the acrimonious feud between the two, Trump fired back on social media, calling Milley a “moron” and “STUPID & VERY DANGEROUS!”


    The original article contains 800 words, the summary contains 203 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Nakedmole@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    With Trump in the game, the USA is not a reliable ally any more. It´s time to shift NATO leadership to the EU.

  • d33pblu3g3n3@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Honest question: Why is Trump leading the polls? The guy is doing and has already done everything he can to destroy the US on the world stage. Can the average voter not see that?

  • someguy3@lemmy.ca
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    10 months ago

    At what point do Trump supporters wake up? He’s literally inviting WW3.

    *We’ve gone from appeasement doesn’t work, to random preemptive offerings.

    • rammer@sopuli.xyz
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      10 months ago

      I’d like to say when the shit hits the fan. But that was years ago. So I think it’ll be when they get real personal consequences. And even then for some it’ll never be over.

      • pelotron@midwest.social
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        10 months ago

        I think they actively want WW3 so they can play out their end-times-left-behind fantasies they’ve been nursing for the last 20 years. What are all their ammo hoards for if they don’t get to use them?