'Hard, red line': GOP chairs deliver warning shot to Trump

20 March

The United States, for more than 70 years, has played a key role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) — with four-star U.S. generals being chosen to oversee NATO's U.S. operations in Europe. But NBC News, on March 18, reported that the second Trump Administration is considering a departure from that time-honored tradition. And this possible major change with NATO is a hot topic on social media.

President Donald Trump is a frequent critic of NATO, claiming that the U.S. gives a lot more to the alliance than it gets in return — a claim that many NATO supporters in the U.S. vehemently disagree with. Retired Adm. James Stavridis, former U.S. allied commander for NATO in Europe, told NBC News, "For the United States to give up the role of supreme allied commander of NATO would be seen in Europe as a significant signal of walking away from the alliance. It would be a political mistake of epic proportion, and once we give it up, they are not going to give it back. We would lose an enormous amount of influence within NATO, and this would be seen, correctly, as probably the first step toward leaving the Alliance altogether."

In a joint statement, two GOP lawmakers — Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) — addressed the United States' role in NATO and did so from a pro-Trump standpoint.

Wicker and Rogers stated, "We support President Trump's efforts to ensure our allies and partners increase their contributions to strengthen our alliance structure, and we support continuing America's leadership abroad. We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress. Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America’s adversaries."

Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio was among the many social media users who weighed in.

On X, formerly Twitter, Desiderio posted, "Wow — the GOP chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services committees issue a joint statement in response to the below story indicating Trump DoD wants to significantly restructure the combatant commands."

German reporter Joerg Lau tweeted, "WHY is this not top news in Europe? Are we in denial about our life insurance slipping away ever so slightly?"

Ziya Meral of the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London, commented, "Given where things are.. Time for a European SACEUR?"

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Patrick Donahoe posted, "Walking away from NATO one faulty step at a time."

X user Ashley Nash said of the Wicker/Rogers statement, "It's about time these Republicans step up to save our nation from total destruction by the madman in the WH. It's now or never GOP."

Another X user, Laura Resnick, argued, "Overreaction, surely. Shouldn't they first just ask Trump what combatant command changes Putin has instructed him to make in the US military?"

Melissa Clark said of Wicker and Rogers, "They better back up their words with action if Trump tries it. Just do it. That is what democracy looks like."

Author Mats Nilsson posted, "Might I suggest the Swedish military strategist Lieutenant colonel Paasikivi to take over?"

X user Amy Rademacher tweeted, "This might be the one thing that GOP members really go after Trump for - you don't f--- around with the military when it comes to true, hardcore Republican politicians. This might be their hard, red line."

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