Well, Trump can't pull us out of NATO...I didn't know that till just now.

[Septua]

Most recently, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, enacted on December 22, 2023, prohibits the President from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO without approval of a two-third Senate super-majority or an act of Congress.

This bill was a response to Donald Trump's repeated expressions of interest in withdrawing from the organization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal_from_NATO#:~:text=United%20States,-The%20United%20States&text=Most%20recently%2C%20the%20National%20Defense,or%20an%20act%20of%20Congress.

[Turbineguy]

1. That's better than nothing, but still carries risk.

Since republicans compete to kiss trumps ass.

[Cha]

2. TY! I don't suppose the fucking mediaW****** are talking about this?

[pnwmom]

9. Some in the media are. I just read about it in the last couple days. nt

[Cha]

12. Good! TY!!

[Silent3]

3. First of all, Trump wouldn't care about the law

Second, even as a nominal member, he would do everything possible to make the US such a bad partner that the rest of NATO would want to get rid of us.

[RandomNumbers]

30. Discussed on NPR this morning. President is commander in chief, Congress has no authority

to deploy troops.

Even if TSF couldn't officially withdraw from the treaty, he could just refuse to authorize the deployment of troops, effectively abrogating the U.S. commitment under the treaty. Putin of course knows this.

And TSF's sick minions would support him in this despicable action.

What the f*ck is wrong with half this country!

[intrepidity]

38. "half this country"

"half the voters in this country"

There, fixed it.

[RandomNumbers]

42. True, but

then there are the people who COULD vote but don't bother.

Sigh.

[getagrip_already]

4. Pulling out vs not supporting...

Not a huge difference.

If a potus refused to participate in nato activities, pulled troops and prepositioned armor and ammo, and then sat back during an attack, what's the real difference?

[Septua]

18. A valid point

Even with Congressional majorities passing legislation to fund assistance, he could veto it. And most likely would out of spite.

[COL Mustard]

24. Too bad

T*ump’s daddy didn’t pull out. That is all.

[Retrograde]

5. Legally, no, but we're talking about Donnie here

No one tells Donnie what to do. No one ever has, and no one ever will. As long as we have a toothless judicial system he'll continue to get away with all his illegal actions.

It's telling that the only prosecutions that seem to be going forward are civil ones - and he's losing those. The criminal proceedings seem to get hung up in delay after delay.

[Irish_Dem]

6. He can still a great deal of damage.

Letting our allies know the US is not trustworthy, doesn't keep the agreements it makes, and emboldens
dangerous psychopath leaders.

[hlthe2b]

7. I 💓 you for bringing this to our attention... Kudos

[Voltaire2]

8. He doesn't have to.

He can obstruct and generally make NATO dysfunctional.

[iluvtennis]

10. So happy to know this. Thanks for posting. n/t

[Warpy]

11. What he would do

Of course he'd issue some sort of imperial fiat pulling us out, only to be smacked down by the courts. Again.

He would also try to defund NATO and might be somewhat more successful at that. He'd sell it as forcing European countries to pay their fair share. Given the generosity to Ukraine, I'd say they are paying their fair share these days.

He'd suck up to Putin full time, not sure how well that would go over. MAGAts aren't the only violent ones out there.

The best idea is to keep him the hell out of office forever.

[wishstar]

13. Other legislation passed post-Trump was change to election certification rules

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/congress-approves-new-election-certification-rules-in-response-to-jan-6

Although we almost certainly never had to worry about a Dem Pres and Dem VP scheming to disrupt the process.

[JoseBalow]

14. All about getting attention on Superbowl Sunday

He's a child

[thomski64]

33. ..wait a minute..

..his beef with our NATO Allies is that they don't pay their bills? What did they do bankrupt a casino? Stiff their creditors? Not pay their lawyers?

[PortTack]

15. Oh that's right! Thx for reminding those of us who had a lapse in memory about that recently passed law

On edit: how is what he what he said not giving aide and comfort to our enemy??!! F..KING TRAITOR!

[Diraven]

16. He can just refuse to help

Since he would still be Commander in Chief he could just refuse to give orders to send any help to a NATO partner who is attacked.

[slightlv]

17. I'd be a bit concerned, if trump takes the chair again,

(since it's not an office and he's not an officer!), that we could find ourselves treated the way Russia, China, N Korea, etc., are treated today, and have been for decades. A military campaign for "regime change" wouldn't be beyond imagination, at least in my head.

[relayerbob]

19. That assumes he cares about laws

If Russia attacks, he can either: just not do anything at all and ignore the screaming; arrest all dissenting congress people and rewrite the law; join Russia and attack NATO. The ONLY thing that would be able to stop him is a military absolutely refusing to follow his orders

[Septua]

21. If the crazy fool gets reelected and fills the Cabinet...

..with cronies, as has been suggested, you are correct. It'll take the rank and file to stop him. And hell, he could replace all the rank and file with white supremacists.

[kimbutgar]

20. If the TFA get re-elected he will ignore these laws and be the dictator he dreams of being

And his weak assed lap dog repukes will follow his lead!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

22. Isn't he just placating putin for assistance this cycle?

That's what it sounds Ike to me. He's a brazen traitor.

[bdamomma]

23. Thanks for

posting.

All the more reason why that POS can't get near the WH. VOTE VOTE VOTE.

Anything can happen between now and November.

[hurple]

25. Dictators don't care...

What indicators have there been, any time in the orange shitgibbons life that he gives a flying fuck about laws, rules, regulations, policy... whatever?

He will do what he wants and bully and threaten anyone who dares try yo say no.

[Hotler]

26. Won't matter if he declares himself a dictator. He''ll do whatever he wants and then stand on

the balcony of the White House tell us if we don't like it to come get him. You can bet if he/the right take power the Christian evangelicals will be our rulers.

[DemocraticPatriot]

28. Didn't they release HInkley from prison, or are about to do so?

I hear tell that Drumph wants to sleep with Jodie Foster, and has been persecuting her...

[DemocraticPatriot]

27. This bill was 'superfluous' --- Presidents did not have any power

to cancel international treaties which were passed by 2/3s of the US Senate in the FIRST place...
(such as the NATO alliance)

That new act only emphasized a point which was already true.... but I'm glad they did it.

[Qutzupalotl]

29. He wouldn't have to

in order to render it useless: https://www.democraticunderground.com/117816014

[kiri]

31. Trump wins by ignoring laws--who can force him?

You miss what Trump can do--ignore the law. He can refuse to appoint an ambassador to NATO or any military representatives. As CiC he can block any and all military actions. He can withdraw every bit of our military 'cooperartion/liason' with NATO. And block all US weapons from NATO.

He consistently wins by generating chaos, confusion, distrust. We have no real tools to deal with this.

[kairos12]

32. He would just unilaterally pull the troops out of Europe.

Make it a hollow alliance. He pulled troops from Germany before.

That law means nothing.

[Martin68]

34. No, Trump can't unilaterally pull the US out of NATO, but we've already seen the mischief he can cause as

president, lending comfort an aid to his Russian friends. If the president of the US is against NATO, it weakens the alliance significantly.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

35. Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan law in December to prevent presidents from leaving NATO.

Link to tweet

[mzmolly]

36. He can set the ball in motion.

“Act of Congress” his lemmings do whatever he asks.

[appleannie1]

37. Maybe someone should tell Putin.

[flashman13]

39. That law doesn't alter the fact that in an emergency, Trump could stand around with his arms folded.

Just like what we saw on J6.

[usaf-vet]

40. All of his properties in NATO countries should be seized the moment he tries to leave NATO.

And held until HELL FREEZES over. Or the sick SOB has a spot next to his wife buried on the golf course.

[Mad_Machine76]

41. He can't withdraw us unilaterally

Given his recent statements, if he wins, I would be surprised if we weren’t kicked out