In a bizarre show of non-support, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson opted this week to forego the annual NATO meeting and visit Russia and his friend Putin instead. The United States is a founding member of the 28 member NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) that was formed in 1949 to defend against fascism and communism. After WWII, it became apparent Russia had aspirations of forcing communism upon Europe, and the United States, along with key other key allies of WWII formed NATO to defend against the Russian aggression. The United States had been a steadfast supporter of NATO until the Trump administration.
The former US Ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, tweeted in disbelief about Tillerson’s decision to skip NATO but go to Russia, saying incredulously that it had to be “fake news.” The senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel of New York, said he “cannot fathom” the decision, which will “shake the confidence of America’s most important alliance.”
Trump has already worried NATO allies by referring to the Western security alliance as “obsolete” and by pressing other members to meet their commitments to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
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