Trump's fight with NATO

Bloomberg -   A previous Trump threat—to let Russia attack other NATO members— didn’t do it. Publicly mulling annexing a NATO ally’s territory didn’t do it. But Trump’s decision to start the now-month long war with Iran may be what finally fractures the 77-year-old defensive alliance.

NATO members are dropping previous efforts at mollifying Trump and instead increasing resistance to his demands they get involved in the war. Spain closed its airspace to US jets and Italy denied US military aircraft bound for the Middle East permission to land at a base in Sicily. Poland said it has no plans to relocate its Patriot batteries following a report the US suggested Warsaw consider sending one to help in the Middle East.

“We’re seeing evidence of confusion and tension between public opinion and political opinion in many NATO countries,” said Ian Lesser, distinguished fellow at the German Marshall Fund. “As a default, there is a tendency to be helpful in Europe regarding military-to-military cooperation with the US, but the current war is putting these longstanding defense relationships under strain.”