The first weeks of Trump’s transition have been met with pushback from Republican senators over the qualifications of his nominees, criticism for failing to go through normal transition channels, and the withdrawal of his choice for attorney general just eight days after his public nomination.
Trump’s transition issues keep piling up. Late last week, American Bridge 21st Century resurfaced a video from 2014 of Trump’s choice to become the ambassador to NATO, Matt Whitaker, claiming that Russia’s seizure of Crimea wasn’t a threat to the United States’ “vital interests” and blaming President Barack Obama’s foreign policy decisions for Russian aggression in Georgia.
The comments resurfaced as Vladimir Putin threatened to strike U.S. bases in Western Europe, suggested the use of nuclear weapons, and U.S. allies made preparations for a potential World War.
Learn more about the surprising and reckless comments from Trump’s nominee to become the ambassador to NATO:
- Donald Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matt Whitaker, said back in 2014 that Russia’s seizure of Crimea wasn’t a threat to ‘vital’ U.S. interests.
- The invasion, as it turns out, was a prelude to the broader invasion in 2022 that now has the Kremlin threatening to strike a U.S. base in Poland and raising nuclear threats while NATO allies make new preparations for a potential World War II.
- The latest chilling sabre rattling came from a Russian foreign minister who said Moscow would ‘react accordingly’ after Ukraine fired U.S.-provided long-range weapons at its territory and Vladimir Putin’s ally Dmitry Medvedev posted that it meant ‘World War III’.
- Whitaker’s comment, in the midst of a Republican primary during Whitaker’s ill-fated run for the U.S. Senate, is one of a limited number of public pronouncements on geopolitics, U.S. alliances, and the nation’s military spending. His position, if confirmed, would put him at the center of a historic standoff, with allies saying Russia’s war threatens the entire transatlantic alliance.
- Whitaker is a lawyer, a former U.S. attorney, a former Big Ten football player, and a former Acting Attorney General who Trump installed when he fired Sen. Jeff Sessions while fuming over the Russia probe.
- His comments on Crimea and U.S. ‘boots on the ground’ came during a debate in Des Moines against eventual winner Joni Ernst in response to a foreign policy question, just a few months after Russian forces seized the vital territory in 2014.
- ‘Well, for me, it’s what is in our national interest,’ he said in the debate hosted by KCCI. ‘And I have a very high bar for what’s in our national interest. For example, I didn’t support going to Syria. I think this President was one of the prime example of him showing weakness.’
- ‘And I would look at, really, when are our vital interests being threatened? I don’t see that happening right now in Crimea, for example, but there are ways we could strengthen NATO and the European Union,’ Whitaker continued, in a clip obtained by DailyMail.com and unearthed by super PAC American Bridge, which is researching Trump nominees.
- Then, he compared himself to the candidate field on military spending. ‘Probably among these five, I would probably be the least likely to use our military and probably spend the least amount on the military. It’s probably marginally less, but it is probably among these five I would do the least in that,’ he said.
- Trump, two years later, could campaign on new military spending, calling the military ‘so depleted’ and vowing: ‘We will rebuild our military.’ Even with the buildup, the U.S. would find itself short on ammunition, javelins, and missiles in the rush to supply Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion.
- In another debate, Whitaker spoke about Ukraine as a ‘fairly new democracy’ that was ‘split almost right down the middle to Russian speaker and the non Russian speakers’ trying to determine ‘which way to look.’
- ‘Ukrainians need to come up with a solution and not have to favor one group or the other,’ he said. He blamed Barack Obama for his ‘very weak response’ after Russia invaded Georgia, another former Soviet republic.
- ‘I see why President Putin is very willing to go into Crimea and secure his port in Sevastopol and really now we have a election that is being propped up to have an independent state in Crimea that will look to Russia and it’s all because of this president and his weak foreign policy,’ he said.
- Trump has revealed the premium he is putting on personal loyalty in his early picks, including selecting Pam Bondi, who represented him during his first impeachment, as attorney general after the Matt Gaetz nomination imploded. Whitaker scores high marks in that category as well, saying in a 2019 Fox News interview defending Trump that ‘abuse of power is not a crime.’
- Trump has picked Whitaker for the key ambassadorial post at a time when key allies are making contingencies for World War III amid Kremlin threats over the war in Ukraine.
- Trump has long been a critic of NATO and the way allies have lived up to burden-sharing commitments, and allies are busy gaming out how his return will impact global relationships.
- Whitaker is a lawyer and Trump loyalist who does not have foreign policy experience.
- Whitaker held a key post overseeing the Russia probe – which Trump continues to brand a ‘witch hunt’ – during his first term.
- Trump installed him as acting AG over the objection of Rod Rosenstein, who had appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel overseeing the probe.
- Trump spent his first term blasting allies, including Germany, who failed to live up to spending commitments for defense. He also ordered a U.S. troop drawdown in Germany amid complaints about its defense spending – although the Biden administration has praised German efforts to send arms to Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion.
- Early this year, Trump spoke about what he would encourage Russia to do to U.S. allies who don’t meet their spending commitments while recounting a conversation with ‘one of the presidents of a big country.’
- ‘No, I would not protect you,’ Trump said he told the foreign leader ‘In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.’
Read the entire article on Daily Mail.com.
Published: Nov 25, 2024 | Last Modified: Dec 30, 2024