President has a point

Donald Trump (the "puppet of Putin" per Nancy Pelosi) has called out Germany for a deal making it dependent on Russia for much of its natural gas. Trump also criticized Germany and most of our NATO allies for their slow progress in meeting the defense spending goals they last agreed upon in 2014 (and even proposed a higher goal).

Nearly 27 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, which was the menace prompting NATO's creation in 1949, the U.S. continues to provide over 60 percent of the alliance's budget. In support of the defense of Europe and our over-all military mission, the U.S. has over 65,000 troops stationed there.

The European Union has roughly the same gross domestic product (GDP) as the U.S. and a larger population. Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy each have GDPs greater than Russia, ostensibly NATO's biggest current threat. The president appears to be asking why our European allies cannot do more to defend themselves. For example, while the Trump administration authorized $41 million late last year for weapons for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia's aggression, NATO has done little to address this threat just beyond its European borders.

We certainly can find productive uses for the money and labor resources saved by having our NATO partners step up, and allowing the U.S. to step back a bit, in support of NATO. On this issue at least, the president may be (gulp) correct.

Chris Ellis

Palatine