NATO Leaders Strike Back at Trump and Turn the Tables!

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3:34Ben Meiselas:The top NATO commanders held an emergency press conference in Brussels to strike back against Donald Trump's attacks on NATO. Over the past 48 hours, Donald Trump has precipitously announced redeployments of American troop commitments in NATO countries. He's withdrawn troops from Germany. He's withdrawn troops from Poland. And he gave no notice to the NATO commanders. And this caused a lot of unpredictability and a lot of worry within our military ranks. In addition, the Trump regime through its defense department has been threatening Canada once again, saying it was going to withdraw from a joint defense pact that has existed since the 1940s.

4:24Ben Meiselas:Also, the Trump regime sending Jeff Landry, the envoy to Greenland, over to Greenland to threaten their sovereignty once again. And of course, Greenland is a territory in Denmark, which is part of NATO. So threatening yet another NATO ally or former NATO ally once again. And Landry went there and he was like, well, the United States wants veto powers over all of your decision-making when it comes to which countries you can do deals with. And we want our military bases here forever. And the people of Greenland were like, we didn't even invite you here. There's a business conference that's taking place and you're showing up and like, we don't want you here, get out.

5:07Ben Meiselas:And then Landry left. And so this emergency press conference was called with NATO leaders, top commanders. You had the chair of the NATO military committee, Admiral Drogoni. You had the supreme allied commander of Europe, General Alexis Grinkowicz. we've covered him before you have the supreme allied commander transformation admiral uh van d a and they held this press conference and they were trying to do is say look nato behind the scenes we're working to create the predictability the stability the certainty we're looking to help ukraine we're looking out for each other and so they were they were using very diplomatic language While we ultimately don't control the political decision making, we've planned for what's taking place.

6:01Ben Meiselas:In other words, they've planned that Donald Trump was going to try to attack NATO and do everything he can to destroy it from within in order to help Putin and in order to help Xi Jinping. And if you take a listen to the coded language of these top NATO commanders, you'll see that that's precisely what they are saying. And so, for example, as I mentioned, you had NATO Military Committee Admiral Dragone, and he starts off over here talking about how we don't listen to the social media noise. We're not going to be distracted with social media. You know, we're going to be focused on the long-term stability and predictability of the alliance.

6:50Ben Meiselas:And so that's, in my view, you could tell me if you disagree, kind of a clear reference to the chaos of Donald Trump waking up and making a post and saying, ah, we're withdrawing from this. or Elbridge Colby, the Undersecretary of Defense, calls himself Secretary of War, Undersecretary of War, posting, America's now leaving the joint defense pact with Canada because we don't like your rhetoric. We don't like what you did in Davos a few months back, Prime Minister Carney. So take a listen to what Commander Dragone has to say. Play this clip. Enough with inconsistency, not to be thrown off course by social media or other distractions.

7:33The security of our citizens demands no less. This morning, we also reaffirm our continued support to Ukraine and strengthening its armed forces for the fight today as well as tomorrow security. Let me take this opportunity to once again commend the Ukrainian soldier and people for their courage, resilience and adaptability. To them, my message is Slavo Ukraine. Early today, we also welcomed the chair of the European Union Military Committee, General Sean Clancy, to advance NATO-EU cooperation on practical, vital military matters. We are building on our already strong partnership. For example, we recently undertook joint visit to Ukraine and another to the Western Balkans.

8:26By aligning complementary efforts, reinforcing one another together, we can deliver so much more.

8:34Ben Meiselas:Next, I'll share with you, I think, powerful words over here from Alexis Grinkovic, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Here's what he has to say. He acknowledges the troop reductions by the Trump regime, but he's very clear that NATO, as his entity, is going to be supporting Ukraine, and Ukraine is supporting NATO. And the predictability that's needed between the US and Europe, NATO is going to be focused on. And in other words, there's a lot of noise. Yes, what Trump is doing, what Hegseth are doing, are dangerous. But behind the scenes, these NATO commanders recognize the threat and they're focused on it.

9:20Ben Meiselas:That's the message that's being sent. Play this clip. As you'd expect, we also discussed the recent decision by the United States to redeploy an armored brigade from Europe. I'd like to emphasize this decision does not impact the executability of our regional plans. As we discussed what Allied Command Operations is doing to support Ukraine, to build warfighting readiness and to strengthen our deterrence posture. You know, the war in Ukraine is into its fifth year, and the Ukrainian armed forces continue to demonstrate extraordinary resilience and innovation. And they continue to share their combat-tested expertise with us, especially when it comes to countering Russian and Iranian drones and missiles.

10:05But Ukraine needs persistent and predictable support from allies. This is why support for Ukraine through the prioritized Ukraine requirements list, or PERL, and any other means remains critical. And regarding PERL, I want to assure you that everything allies have paid for is flowing, including air defense interceptors that the Ukrainians so urgently need. By investing in Ukraine, we are not only protecting their population and defending their critical infrastructure and sustaining their fight. This is also an investment in European security.

10:36Ben Meiselas:One of the reasons this message is being sent and why they held this press conference right here in advance of a broader NATO summit that's going to be taking place very soon, why they thought they had to get out of there is, look, you have Putin meeting with Xi Jinping right now in China. So Trump leaves China. He praises Xi Jinping and China, how strong they are. he lets Xi Jinping attack the United States and say how the United States is a declining power. I mean, Donald Trump looked like an utter buffoon, right? So while you had Trump's Xi Jinping meeting taking place, you had the big BRICS block meeting, which is intended to counter NATO, BRICS, Brazil, Russia, you have India, China, and South Africa.

11:25Ben Meiselas:And they invited Foreign Minister Aragji from Iran, although Iran is bricks, but kind of sideline on bricks. They're part of bricks. And Aragji gave a speech and bricks solidifying its strength. So NATO had to get out there and make a statement, especially, you know, Putin got the red carpet treatment from Xi Jinping. Wang Yi, the foreign minister from China, was the one who greeted Putin when Putin landed, who's in the Politburo right now, unlike the person who greeted Donald Trump was like, someone who didn't really have political power at the airport. They were signaling that deals were going to be made between Xi Jinping and Putin.

12:02Ben Meiselas:And that also follows the meeting with Foreign Minister Aragji two weeks ago. And then you've got the additional facts of Reuters reporting how the Trump regime planned to tell NATO allies this week that it's going to reduce the pool of US military capabilities available to assist European nations in a major crisis with decisions to be formally communicated in Brussels on Friday. The Pentagon says the U.S. will continue providing its nuclear umbrella, but it will remove troops that it will offer for a crisis. Under the framework known as the NATO force model, the alliance members' countries identify a pool of available forces that could be activated during a conflict or any other major crisis, such as a military attack on a NATO member.

12:49Ben Meiselas:And that's what the Trump regime says they're gonna be pulling troops out of. I've always been picky when it comes to seafood. You spend good money at the grocery store, bring home some fish, and half the time, it just doesn't live up to expectations. So I was really excited to try Wild Alaskan Company. Wild Alaskan Company offers the best way to get wild-caught, high-quality seafood delivered to your door on your schedule. Each box comes with individually portioned fillets that are vacuum-sealed, easy to prepare, and perfect whether you're making a quick weeknight dinner or something a little more elevated.

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14:43In accordance with President Trump's announcement, it'll be 5000 troops coming out of Europe. As I mentioned in my opening comments, a fair number of those come from the armored brigade combat team that is returning. And the U.S. has also already announced that the previously planned deployment of a long range fires battalion will be curtailed and will not start occurring. There are some other additional minor elements that will be shifting as well. The planning is still ongoing for what those are for another several hundred troops. And so we can talk about that a little bit later. But the total number is 5 ,000.

15:21On your question of how does it impact us, since the rotational brigade that is returning now without replacement showed up in 2022, a lot has happened in the alliance. First off, the Baltic allies and the Poles and many others have really built up their ground combat power. So there's substantially more capability in the ground domain than there was previously. I'd also highlight the multinational brigade that we have in Latvia, led by Canada, fully operational on the ground and highly effective. And then the Germans continue to build out a brigade in Lithuania. So again, this is as allies build up their capability, the United States is able to pull capability back and use it for other global priorities.

16:04So I'm very comfortable with where we are. We'll continue to work on the plan in both of my hats as Commander Yukon on the U.S. side and across the alliance of SACUR to ensure we've got the right coverage in the right places to maintain deterrence. I had a session today with the Baltic 3 and Poland to go over what some of the options were and how we might array capabilities on the eastern flank. So absolutely constant contact with allies and constantly looking at what the threat is and what do we need to adjust or do we need to adjust. On the question of future redeployments, look, I will not get ahead of any political leadership in the United States.

16:44I will just say that the deployments that we have so far are all that's been announced. It's all that I'm expecting in the near term. But, you know, over the longer term, we absolutely should expect additional deployments as Europe continues to build capability and capacity and step up to provide more of the conventional defense of Europe.

17:01Ben Meiselas:There's more over here from Grankowicz right here. And he's asked by a reporter about just the unpredictability, the precipitous nature of how the U.S. redeployed these troops from Poland without giving anybody notice. I'll let you take a listen to what Grankowicz's response is. Let's play this clip. And then on the troop redeployment, it wasn't so much the amount that was the issue this time, but the manner in which it was done, impulsive, without coordination and sudden. Is that the way to do it? And can you guarantee that in future, Europe will be better informed and better able to prepare for these announcements?

17:46Yeah, so first on your question on planning, for SAC year to undertake any formal military planning requires a council planning directive that gives me guidance from the North Atlantic Council. So the political direction comes first, and then the formal planning happens after that. Am I thinking about it? Absolutely. But there's no planning yet until the political decision is taken. Second, in terms of your comment, look, you know, we've talked about this with the Chiefs of Defense today. And I would tell you that every Chief of Defense in there acknowledged that this type of adjustment was something that they knew should be expected.

18:26The exact timing was unknown. But when it did happen and when it was ordered, we were quickly able to talk to our allies and let them know what was going on and why it was happening. So, you know, there was coordination. There was an expectation that this would happen. And we're going to stay well synchronized with our allies moving forward.

18:47Ben Meiselas:You know, and then, you know, we saw Prime Minister Carney yesterday commenting on Donald Trump's attacks on NATO. I'll show you what Prime Minister Carney said in just a moment. We'll play this clip for you. This is Prime Minister Carney addressing Donald Trump's attacks on NATO. Let's play this clip right here. But we will also be cooperating with other partners and diversifying our defense cooperation, as we should as a member of NATO. And lastly, as we should in critical areas such as Ukraine, where it's outside of direct NATO responsibility, but it's consistent with our values as Canada and it's consistent with the values of a vast number of our partners.

19:31Ben Meiselas:And we stand there and Ukraine is going to triumph and we're going to be on the right side of history for that. Thank you. French President Emmanuel Macron also announced that Sweden chose naval groups, defense and intervention frigate to modernize its Navy. In other words, Sweden and France entering into lots of deals following France's decision to equip itself with Saab's Global Eye to renew its fleet of AWACS radar aircraft. This is a major strategic decision that reflects mutual trust between our two countries. Our partnership has indeed continued to strengthen in recent years, up to Sweden's participation in advanced deterrence.

20:13Ben Meiselas:A strong and sovereign Europe within NATO. That is our vision of our defense and our shared security. It is built every day. So you understand? So, you know, Sweden has the Gripen's, these really powerful planes that compete with the F-35s, which by the way, looks like Canada probably will go with these Gripen's instead of the F-35s. We'll see. There's an F-35 review taking place. But then you also have these Saab from Sweden. They're these globalized as well. And there's a move away from the US AWACS, which a lot of those got destroyed also during the open hostilities in the war in Iran. And so I've been covering this quite frequently here where we've been talking about how lots of European countries, Canada, others are buying from each other now.

21:03Ben Meiselas:and they're not buying traditionally these military weapons from the United States because the level of unpredictability. Yeah. So Sweden's buying these four French FDI class frigates from Naval Group for about$4.25 billion, the biggest defense purchase since the 1980s. Normally you would expect that that would go to, you know, a deal like that would go to the United States as well. You know, and then you also have the treasury department under treasury secretary Besant at Donald Trump's orders, extending the removal of sanctions from Russia on Russian oil, allowing Russia to sell more of its oil and raise funds to fuel its war efforts against Ukraine while Ukraine is taking the initiative in the war.

21:53Ben Meiselas:So that's what's going on there. We'll keep you posted, of course, every step of the way. Make sure you hit subscribe. Help us get to 7 million subscribers. Thanks for watching.

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