4 ms·

Who would have thought that the POTUS would be the person to kick foreign arms industries into sixth gear?

pokstad 2y ago
Well he’s been very vocal about NATO countries increasing their defense contributions. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the US needs to sell all the weapons.
- mrighele 2y ago
  "Trump Tells Europe to Buy American Arms to Keep NATO Strong". [1] "U.S. President Donald Trump complained Thursday that his country's decades-old security treaty with Japan is nonreciprocal, as he steps up pressure on allies to increase defense spending and buy more American products." [2] It's about buying more American weapons. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-13/trump-tells-europe-to-buy-american-weapons-to-keep-nato-strong https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-13/trump-tel... [2] https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/03/fd3521d51353-update1-trump-complains-security-pact-with-japan-nonreciprocal.html https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/03/fd3521d51353-upda...
  - rocqua 2y ago
    We're not increasing defense spending to appease Trump though. We're increasing defense spending because we realize a need for strategic independence from the US. Because for the comming 4 years, it's obvious that the US won't be a reliable partner, and might even be an adversary. It makes no sense for us to buy American if we need strategic independence from the US.
  - bhaak 2y ago
    > It's about buying more American weapons. He's an idiot if he really thinks that his actions will result in this. European defense stocks are going parabolic right now.
    - tim333 2y ago
      Yeah this turning of F16 support is really going to sell them.
    - monetus 2y ago
      He is indeed an idiot. Often more of an idiot than anyone else around.
- ncruces 2y ago
  And all everybody speaks of is expenditure, not capabilities. That alone should tell you what the goal is. Except it might backfire if Europe understandably decides it must buy European.
  - martin_a 2y ago
    Yes, seems like things are already starting to take off: - Shares of Starlink’s European rival Eutelsat have tripled. CEO says it can do the job in Ukraine. [1] - Boost for German economy: Armaments sector picks up former car industry employees [2] [1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-starlinks-european-competitor-have-tripled-ceo-says-it-can-do-the-job-in-ukraine-f5e4e1ac https://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-starlinks-europe... [2] (German only) https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Ruestungsbranche-sammelt-ehemalige-Autoindustrie-Mitarbeiter-ein-article25607764.html https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Ruestungsbranche-sammelt-ehem...
    - alienthrowaway 2y ago
      > Boost for German economy: Armaments sector picks up former car industry employees Why do I hear strains of "Spring time for Germany" playing in my head?
      - martin_a 2y ago
        Yesssss, I'd rather have those people working in renewable energy or some other future tech, but that industry was broken down as we all remember... So I guess we have to live with armaments for the moment. :-/
bufferoverflow 2y ago
He has been pretty vocal about exactly that. He said multiple times that European countries must increase defense budgets significantly.
- rad_gruchalski 2y ago
  Yes. To buy more American weapons.
- preisschild 2y ago
  Yeah, but EU countries donated weapons like the F-16, which were bought from the US in the first place. So now we have to use another source for those weapon systems and the revenue/jobs won't end up in the US. Is this really what the US wants?
  - bufferoverflow 2y ago
    That's US's problem. Which is very minor compared to Ukraine's or Europe's problems with this war.
    - goodluckchuck 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - bufferoverflow 2y ago
        Most European nations don't have nukes. If Russia overruns Ukraine (which, I really hope, they won't be able to), their next targets are Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. Will Europe start a nuclear war over any of these countries being invaded? Doubt it.
        goodluckchuck 2y ago
        I’m talking about rhetoric and deterrence and values. When Putin was building up for war, the US was saying we’d provide money and “defensive” weapons. That’s basically an invitation. It’s saying we won’t do what it takes to win. That’s fine. If we don’t care enough to prevent it, then we can own that and let it happen without millions dying. Or, if we really won’t let that happen, then we can make that the reality and again save millions of lives. I don’t understand how Europe seems to think that a world war among nuclear powers is the least-risky approach. If we keep fighting someone is going to start using them anyway.
peeters 2y ago
Sometimes I wonder if he's a secret genius that leverages his own stupidity. E.g. he might be solely responsible for getting the Liberals reelected in Canada, something that a year ago you would have thought was absolutely impossible. But Trump is so deeply hated in Canada now that every time he mocks Trudeau it makes the Liberals more popular. Liberal support, which before Trump was elected was so low as to make a Conservative election win seem inevitable, has skyrocketed since Trump took office. It's now pretty much a dead heat, and that's before the Liberals have elected their new leader. So I don't know, maybe he just really, really wanted the Liberals to get reelected and he pulled off the only way to make it happen. Maybe he felt sorry that Canadians seemed so internally divided, so he threatened to annex Canada to unite us. Or maybe he's a moron that can't even understand cause and effect. https://338canada.com/polls.htm https://338canada.com/polls.htm
- throwccp 2y ago
  [dead]
- deepsun 2y ago
  I heard that a lot about pretty much every country politics that "there's something more going on, some conspiracy". But again and again I see that there's nothing hidden, it's all pretty simple and dumb. We just want to overcomplicate things to feel smarter.
- rifty 2y ago
  Trump reminds me of someone trying to finish the last side of a rubiks cube by undoing every other side in that pursuit by not paying attention to them. I think he'll continue to be the main cause of constraints to realizing his visions maximally. For this reason, once we can look back on this time in retrospect, there's a way this plays out where he may just be a horse that ran away. [0] [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse
kccoder 2y ago
Just like everything else he’s done, I’m not remotely surprised. I wonder if people realize where this all ends, and are taking appropriate precautions.

Well he’s been very vocal about NATO countries increasing their defense contributions. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the US needs to sell all the weapons.

mrighele 2y ago
"Trump Tells Europe to Buy American Arms to Keep NATO Strong". [1] "U.S. President Donald Trump complained Thursday that his country's decades-old security treaty with Japan is nonreciprocal, as he steps up pressure on allies to increase defense spending and buy more American products." [2] It's about buying more American weapons. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-13/trump-tells-europe-to-buy-american-weapons-to-keep-nato-strong https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-13/trump-tel... [2] https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/03/fd3521d51353-update1-trump-complains-security-pact-with-japan-nonreciprocal.html https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/03/fd3521d51353-upda...
- rocqua 2y ago
  We're not increasing defense spending to appease Trump though. We're increasing defense spending because we realize a need for strategic independence from the US. Because for the comming 4 years, it's obvious that the US won't be a reliable partner, and might even be an adversary. It makes no sense for us to buy American if we need strategic independence from the US.
- bhaak 2y ago
  > It's about buying more American weapons. He's an idiot if he really thinks that his actions will result in this. European defense stocks are going parabolic right now.
  - tim333 2y ago
    Yeah this turning of F16 support is really going to sell them.
  - monetus 2y ago
    He is indeed an idiot. Often more of an idiot than anyone else around.
ncruces 2y ago
And all everybody speaks of is expenditure, not capabilities. That alone should tell you what the goal is. Except it might backfire if Europe understandably decides it must buy European.
- martin_a 2y ago
  Yes, seems like things are already starting to take off: - Shares of Starlink’s European rival Eutelsat have tripled. CEO says it can do the job in Ukraine. [1] - Boost for German economy: Armaments sector picks up former car industry employees [2] [1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-starlinks-european-competitor-have-tripled-ceo-says-it-can-do-the-job-in-ukraine-f5e4e1ac https://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-starlinks-europe... [2] (German only) https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Ruestungsbranche-sammelt-ehemalige-Autoindustrie-Mitarbeiter-ein-article25607764.html https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Ruestungsbranche-sammelt-ehem...
  - alienthrowaway 2y ago
    > Boost for German economy: Armaments sector picks up former car industry employees Why do I hear strains of "Spring time for Germany" playing in my head?
    - martin_a 2y ago
      Yesssss, I'd rather have those people working in renewable energy or some other future tech, but that industry was broken down as we all remember... So I guess we have to live with armaments for the moment. :-/

bufferoverflow 2y ago

He has been pretty vocal about exactly that. He said multiple times that European countries must increase defense budgets significantly.

rad_gruchalski 2y ago
Yes. To buy more American weapons.
preisschild 2y ago
Yeah, but EU countries donated weapons like the F-16, which were bought from the US in the first place. So now we have to use another source for those weapon systems and the revenue/jobs won't end up in the US. Is this really what the US wants?
- bufferoverflow 2y ago
  That's US's problem. Which is very minor compared to Ukraine's or Europe's problems with this war.
  - goodluckchuck 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - bufferoverflow 2y ago
      Most European nations don't have nukes. If Russia overruns Ukraine (which, I really hope, they won't be able to), their next targets are Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. Will Europe start a nuclear war over any of these countries being invaded? Doubt it.
      - goodluckchuck 2y ago
        I’m talking about rhetoric and deterrence and values. When Putin was building up for war, the US was saying we’d provide money and “defensive” weapons. That’s basically an invitation. It’s saying we won’t do what it takes to win. That’s fine. If we don’t care enough to prevent it, then we can own that and let it happen without millions dying. Or, if we really won’t let that happen, then we can make that the reality and again save millions of lives. I don’t understand how Europe seems to think that a world war among nuclear powers is the least-risky approach. If we keep fighting someone is going to start using them anyway.

peeters 2y ago

Sometimes I wonder if he's a secret genius that leverages his own stupidity. E.g. he might be solely responsible for getting the Liberals reelected in Canada, something that a year ago you would have thought was absolutely impossible. But Trump is so deeply hated in Canada now that every time he mocks Trudeau it makes the Liberals more popular. Liberal support, which before Trump was elected was so low as to make a Conservative election win seem inevitable, has skyrocketed since Trump took office. It's now pretty much a dead heat, and that's before the Liberals have elected their new leader. So I don't know, maybe he just really, really wanted the Liberals to get reelected and he pulled off the only way to make it happen. Maybe he felt sorry that Canadians seemed so internally divided, so he threatened to annex Canada to unite us. Or maybe he's a moron that can't even understand cause and effect. https://338canada.com/polls.htm https://338canada.com/polls.htm

throwccp 2y ago
[dead]
deepsun 2y ago
I heard that a lot about pretty much every country politics that "there's something more going on, some conspiracy". But again and again I see that there's nothing hidden, it's all pretty simple and dumb. We just want to overcomplicate things to feel smarter.
rifty 2y ago
Trump reminds me of someone trying to finish the last side of a rubiks cube by undoing every other side in that pursuit by not paying attention to them. I think he'll continue to be the main cause of constraints to realizing his visions maximally. For this reason, once we can look back on this time in retrospect, there's a way this plays out where he may just be a horse that ran away. [0] [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse

kccoder 2y ago

Just like everything else he’s done, I’m not remotely surprised. I wonder if people realize where this all ends, and are taking appropriate precautions.