US defense secretary says Trump will not allow anyone to “turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker”
Pravda Ukraine
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is once again calling on European and Canadian partners to increase defence spending, citing President Dwight Eisenhower’s words from the past.
Source: European Pravda, citing Hegseth at a press conference after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday, 13 February
Details: In his statement, Hegseth said that it was necessary to “make NATO great again”. He then recalled President Eisenhower, who he said was one of NATO’s most ardent supporters.
“He believed in a strong relationship with Europe. However, by the end of Eisenhower’s presidency, even he was concerned that Europe was not shouldering enough of its own defence, nearly making, in Eisenhower’s words, quote ‘a sucker out of Uncle Sam’”.
Well, like President Eisenhower, this administration believes in alliances, deeply believes in alliances, but make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker,” the US secretary of defense said.
He stressed that NATO is the largest and most successful defence alliance in history. But in order to survive in the future, US partners must do much more to defend Europe.
Background:
- At the press conference, Hegseth also expanded on his thesis that returning Ukraine’s borders to pre-2014 levels is not a realistic goal.
- The day before, Hegseth said that US President Donald Trump is demanding that European NATO allies spend 5% of their GDP on defence.
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