by Rod D. Martin
July 27, 2016

So Donald Trump had the temerity to question our disproportionate funding of NATO again. And everyone’s going bonkers.

The Newsmax headline (and Newsmax tends to be pretty pro-Trump) reads: “Trump: Can’t Go Into World War III for NATO Allies Who Don’t Pay.” That’s one of the friendlier ledes.

Even many conservatives are horrified. But stop yourself and consider. People are hearing “we’re not fighting World War III for our NATO Allies.” But they’re not hearing the rest of the statement, which is “we WILL fight for them if they’ll stop freeloading.”

In other words, Trump is demanding we stop giving welfare to Europe.

Europe’s economy is almost as large as America’s: these are not the Marshall Plan years. And yet America foots 73% of the alliance’s total bill (as even the Washington Post admits, grudgingly), and many of the alliance’s 28 members are such freeloaders that even Obama has called them out for it.

Nor is Trump identifying a new problem. This has always been true, even during the latter years of the Cold War. But at least then, Ronald Reagan could legitimately justify America’s extra effort in the interests of deterring an actual World War III.

The chances of a World War III today are…a lot lower. So why should we put up with freeloaders?

Trump says he’s for NATO, and all he wants is for our allies to pull their own weight. Good for him. And shame on all the disingenuous pansies in Washington who are terrified of an American leader actually looking out for the interests of Americans.

Oh, and newsflash: if these countries did more to defend themselves, they’d be better off too.