THE TRUTH IS, TRUMP’S RIGHT
DONALD Trump’s media haters say the US President is a liar. “He has no time for facts,” raged a Fairfax correspondent on Saturday. But here’s the crazy thing: what really gets those haters angry is not when Trump lies but when he tells the truth.
And, boy, have they squealed as Trump storms through Europe, refusing to repeat the lies of the political elite that have been destroying the West.
Trump’s tour has been described by former South Australian Premier Mike Rann, a former high commissioner to London, as a “theatre of the grotesque”.
Paul Kelly, editor-at-large of The Australian, spluttered that it showed the President was a “primitive”, “reckless” and a “danger”.
SBS mocked “Trump’s chaotic European tour”, berating him for having “harangued members of the NATO military alliance, scolded Germany … and shocked Britain by publicly criticising Prime Minister Theresa May”.
Er, yes, he did all that. So what’s the problem?
In fact, Trump was absolutely right to harangue the NATO allies — the critical defence alliance of the West.
For decades they left it to the US to defend them while spending peanuts on defending themselves.
Even now, just four of America’s 28 NATO allies spend even 2 per cent of their national income on defence, while the US spends as much as 3.7 per cent.
Trump called them out at last week’s NATO meeting, and even hinted the US could “go it alone” if they didn’t stump up more cash.
Good. It’s time the European public realised their leaders have left them with weak armies — and not just weak borders.
Trump was also right to scold Germany, too.
Germany has indeed made Europe unsafe with border laws so weak that millions of illegal immigrants from the Muslim Third World invaded.
Likewise, Trump was right to last week warn that Germany was becoming “captive” to Russia by building a giant new pipeline to import even more Russian gas.
Even without it, Germany last year relied on Russia for up to 75 per cent of its natural gas imports, 40 per cent of its crude oil imports and 30 per cent of its coal.
Russia now has its foot on Germany’s throat. That’s an issue for all Europe.
As for having “shocked” Britain, Trump once more just told the truth.
Yes, Prime Minister May has betrayed the British public by refusing to do what it voted for and quit the European Union completely.
And Trump is right: of course Britain can’t expect to get a trade deal from the US if it does still stay in the European trading zone, bound by European rules.
Trump again told the truth, but hear the screams.
And it keeps happening. Trump keeps getting attacked for pointing out where the West is crumbling, through sloth, self-deception and cultural shame.
He’s right, for instance, that China is unfairly exploiting the world trade system.
He’s also right that the Paris agreement on global warming punishes the US and the West while helping China and Russia, and that it inflicts great economic pain for no real climate gain.
In all these issues, Trump is right and his haters wrong.
Those haters are also wrong to whinge that Trump beats up America’s allies while making nice with dictators.
In fact, his plan for a stronger NATO would actually be bad for Russia. A fairer trade system would be bad for China.
Yet, as Trump the giant tells his big truths, the media frantically searches him for fleas of untruths.
Take last Saturday. Ah hah, trumpeted Nick Miller, the Sydney Morning Herald’s European correspondent.
Trump, this “grand embellisher”, had just told a “porky” — that he’d opened his Turnberry golf course the day before Britain voted on leaving Europe, and had made a prediction.
“I said, ‘I think Brexit would happen’ and it did happen,” Trump boasted.
No! “Wasn’t true,” gloated Miller: “Trump cut the ribbon at his golf course on the day after the Brexit vote.” This was why Trump had a credibility problem in Europe.
And, yes, Trump was wrong on the irrelevant detail. But what Miller didn’t mention was that he’d again been right on the important substance.
It was actually three months before the Brexit vote, not merely the day before, that Trump publicly predicted “Britain will separate from the EU”.
If only Miller had listened, instead of swallowing the claptrap of the elites.
Maybe then, months later, Miller would not have described the Brexit result as a “shock”.
Trump 1; media 0. Again.