(ANTIMEDIA) Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump embarked on his first foreign policy trip since his inauguration. He is visiting many U.S. strategic allies, including a NATO summit of the alliance’s 28 member countries in the Belgian capital, Brussels, at the end of this month.
As outlined in multiple reports, NATO is Trump-proofing the entire event. According to Foreign Policy, NATO will reportedly put a time limit on speeches at the summit in an attempt to appease the president’s presumably short attention span. The speeches will be limited to between two and four minutes, according to Foreign Policy’s sources.
“It’s kind of ridiculous how they are preparing to deal with Trump,” one source briefed on the meeting’s preparations told Foreign Policy, explaining how preparations to kid-proof Trump’s experience are underway. “It’s like they’re preparing to deal with a child—someone with a short attention span and mood who has no knowledge of NATO, no interest in in-depth policy issues, nothing.”
Jorge Benitez, a NATO expert who works for the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, also added:
“Even a brief NATO summit is way too stiff, too formal, and too policy heavy for Trump. Trump is not going to like that.”
Trump’s NATO bashing prior to his election success, coupled with indications the president largely doesn’t understand how the organization actually works, suggest NATO’s worries are probably well-founded.
NATO is also reportedly foregoing the post-meeting readout, known as a declaration, which normally outlines the alliance’s strategy. As summarized by Vanity Fair:
“One NATO official told F.P. that the decision to scrap the declaration was rooted in the fact that the meeting isn’t a full summit, telling the outlet, ‘This meeting is just much more focused.’ But other officials credited the change to Trump’s incoherent foreign policy toward Europe, explaining simply that ‘they’re worried Trump won’t like it.’”
Well done, America. This is what the rest of the world thinks of the man you elected to be entrusted with the nuclear codes.
Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo
Source