Thread by @AmoneyResists

Trump recently claimed “There would be no NATO if I didn’t act strongly and swiftly! Let history so note!”

Trump’s actual history with NATO both before and during his term notes the exact opposite.

Let’s recap. Keep in mind weakening NATO has been one of Putin’s primary goals.

In one of Trump’s books published in 2000–‘The America We Deserve’—Trump claimed that the money we invest in NATO was a complete waste.

“America has no vital interest in choosing between warring factions whose animosities go back centuries in Eastern Europe,” he wrote.

During the 2016 election, Trump repeatedly exaggerated the U.S. contribution to NATO.

Then when he took office, he claimed that “hundreds of billions” of dollars had gone to NATO because of him, even suggesting some of the funds were provided to the U.S. None of this was true.

Trump referred to NATO as “obsolete” in 2016 and said it was “economically unfair to the U.S.”

He even said that he wouldn’t provide military defense to our allied members unless they “paid their fees.” All of his public statements fractured our alliances and weakened NATO.

Trump also told his top national security officials that he didn’t see the point of the alliance, which he viewed as a “drain on the United States”

His former NSA John Bolton admitted that Trump repeatedly told him he wanted to leave it, saying “I don’t give a shit about NATO.”

Bolton had to convince Trump not to leave the alliance during the 2018 summit, and says he would have withdrawn from it if he had won in 2020

Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly said “one of the most difficult tasks he faced was stopping Trump from pulling us out of NATO.”

The former Secretary of Defense under Obama said that leaving NATO would be “one of the most damaging things any president could do to U.S. interests.”

This would be consistent with his removing us from the WHO, the Paris Climate Agreement, the JCPOA, and the Open Skies Treaty.

Trump also claimed “it was me that got Ukraine Javelins when the previous administration was sending blankets.”

Actually, Obama’s administration provided more than $120 million in security assistance to Ukraine in 2015 and pledged another $75 million worth of military equipment.

Trump did approve the sale of Javelins—shoulder-fired precision missile systems to destroy helicopters, tanks, and armored vehicles—but these had only been withheld earlier because Ukraine lacked the capability to use them. He also reportedly had to be talked into it by his aides

Trump’s team also insisted that the Javelins not be deployed in conflict zones so most of them were stored in Western Ukraine.

When Zelensky told Trump he wanted to buy more, Trump asked him “to do us a favor” and withheld $391 million in aid (leading to his 1st impeachment).

The “favor” was for Zelensky to hold a press conference and announce “an investigation” into Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Trump tried to extort our ally to get them to help him fabricate dirt on his future political opponent.

When Zelensky refused, Trump froze the aid.

The House impeached Trump on December 18th, 2019 for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198).

Not a single Republican member of the House voted yes, but the Democratic majority impeached him on both counts.

On Feb 5th, 2020, Republicans in the senate acquitted Trump of both counts despite overwhelming and unequivocal evidence, so he remained in office.

Trump continued to undermine NATO for the rest of his term. And Republicans in both chambers sanctioned it with their votes.

This is vitally important now that the focus of the entire nation & world is on Ukraine.

A significant portion of our population has no idea that Trump got impeached for withholding aid to Ukraine to try to get them to interfere in our election on his behalf. LET’S EDUCATE THEM.

And hold every GOP member of Congress’ feet to the fire as they try to rewrite history to paint themselves as “Standing with Ukraine”

Republicans do not stand with Ukraine. They stand with Putin. They stand with Trump. They stand against democracy at home and abroad
#GOPTraitors

Here’s a thread showing how GOP officials are attacking President Biden instead of Putin during this crisis.

You can see how they all repeat the same set of talking points that are all lies and serve to weaken us as a nation.
#GOPTraitorsToDemocracy

https://twitter.com/amoneyresists/status/1496463124563693570?s=21

And he’s still bashing NATO and praising dictators, just for anyone wondering:
#TrumpIsALaughingStock