On Paying Bills

 

We've all seen the Malignant Loser's fatuousness once again on display at a campaign event in which he made a typically odd, inaccurate, and dangerous claim.  From Saturday, February 10, 2024:

Former president Donald Trump ramped up his attacks on NATO on Saturday, claiming he suggested to a foreign leader that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to member countries he views as not spending enough on their own defense.

“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?,’” Trump said during a rally at Coastal Carolina University. “I said, ‘You didn’t pay. You’re delinquent.’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” (our emphasis)

(Once again, NATO doesn't create "bills" for member defense.  Its members have a target guideline of 2% of GDP spending on defense.  Most member countries are meeting that target guideline, and all are paying their share of NATO's common budget.) 

Well, if there's one thing the Malignant Loser is expert on and can speak to with some authority, it's not paying bills.  (That's why some of the people who've worked for him took to calling him Deadbeat Donald.)

From the wayback machine, circa 2016: 

During the Atlantic City casino boom in the 1980s, Philadelphia cabinet-builder Edward Friel Jr. landed a $400,000 contract to build the bases for slot machines, registration desks, bars and other cabinets at Harrah's at Trump Plaza.

The family cabinetry business, founded in the 1940s by Edward’s father, finished its work in 1984 and submitted its final bill to the general contractor for the Trump Organization, the resort’s builder.

Edward’s son, Paul, who was the firm’s accountant, still remembers the amount of that bill more than 30 years later: $83,600. The reason: the money never came. “That began the demise of the Edward J. Friel Company… which has been around since my grandfather,” he said.

Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.

At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others... (our emphasis)

There's much more at the link if you need further convincing and we're sure you don't.

Deadbeat Donald has kept up this tradition of stiffing people all the way to the present (poor bankrupt Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani being a recent prime example of Deadbeat Donald's failing to pay legal bills). He stiffs pollsters, he stiffs local municipalities that host his Nuremberg rallies, etc., etc. That he should be out campaigning using one of his "sir" stories to complain about NATO deadbeats that don't exist takes more than his usual amount of projection and chutzpah.  

QOTD -- Friends And Enemies

 

Tom Nichols writes in The Atlantic about the unhinged Malignant Loser's recent comments about letting Russian war criminal Putin have his way with NATO allies:

... Americans outside of Trump’s personality cult—at least those who have retained any ability to be shocked—should be stunned at this kind of betrayal of American principles and America’s allies. Here in the United States, we have become accustomed to treating Trump like an angry child, ignoring his outbursts the way parents ignore a toddler who shouts threats and claims to hate mommy and daddy during tantrums.

But other nations do not see an overaged juvenile; they see a man who once held the keys to the U.S. nuclear arsenal and could once again become the commander in chief of the American military. They are watching him because they believe—as they should—that he is telling them exactly what he’ll do if he returns to office.

Trump’s spokespeople will likely try to clean up his remarks by saying he was merely playing hardball with recalcitrant European freeloaders. But anyone who’s watched Trump and his servile fascination with Putin long enough knows the truth: Donald Trump would make the United States a friend to the Kremlin and an enemy to NATO. Putin knows it, and after today, so should every American.  (our emphasis)

Spineless Florida Republican bootlicker Sen. Marco "Li'l Marco" Rubio has already tried pooh-poohing the Malignant Loser's disqualifying remarks, as you would expect the li'l gusano to do.  

It's a craven cult willing to put America and its allies in Putin's crosshairs.  They're enemies of America just as much as Putin.

Trump Would Encourage Putin To Attack NATO Over Unpaid "Bills"

 

Once, again, he couldn't make it any clearer:  the Malignant Loser's in Putin's pocket all the way:

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defense in a stunning admission he would not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of the alliance if reelected.

Here's some ripe bullshit from the Malignant Loser:

“NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said at a rally in Conway, South Carolina. “I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”

Trump said “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the US would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.”

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled telling that president. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” (our emphasis)

Did they call you "sir?"  Did you forget to add that to your tall tale?*  Continuing with some reality:  

At the core of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the promise of collective defense — that an attack on one member nation is an attack on all the nations in the alliance. Trump has long complained about the amount other countries in NATO spend on defense compared with the United States and has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the US from NATO. But his comments Saturday are his most direct indication he does not intend to defend NATO allies from Russian attack if he is reelected.

Trump has for years inaccurately described how NATO funding works. NATO has a target that each member country spends a minimum of 2% of gross domestic product on defense, and most countries are not meeting that target. But the figure is a guideline and not a binding contract, nor does it create “bills”; member countries haven’t been failing to pay their share of NATO’s common budget to run the organization.  (our emphasis)

CNN closes with a helpful reminder:

As president, Trump privately threatened multiple times to withdraw the United States from NATO, according to The New York Times. Trump has described NATO as “obsolete” and has aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants to weaken the alliance. Trump has long praised Putin and went as far as to side with the Russian leader over the US intelligence community over Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

At this point in time, if there's anyone who doesn't believe the Malignant Loser would betray our country and its allies to the Russian war criminal dictator, he just told you he would for the lamest, most made-up reason.  In other times, this would be disqualifying, but then again so would leading an insurrection, being a serial sexual abuser, being a convicted fraudster, being a racist, being a pathological liar, being a demented narcissistic sociopath, etc., etc.  He was never fit to be President, and that he's in a position potentially to be elected again is a shameful, indelible stain on our nation.

BONUS:  True --

 

Trump: (calls for Russia to invade NATO countries)

The media: We asked Joe Biden what he ate for lunch 7 Tuesdays ago and he was unable to recall.

— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) February 11, 2024

*UPDATE:  Looks like he did in fact say someone called him "sir."  It's a dead giveaway he's making shit up again.

(Photo:  Putin walks his dog in Helsinki / Reuters)