One day after a massive Thursday loss at the UN General Assembly on the Jerusalem issue, President Trump complained on Twitter that the US “foolishly spent $7 trillion in the Middle East,” suggesting the focus needed to shift to US infrastructure.
This comment was perceived by some reporters as being about Trump’s threat to withdraw foreign aid from countries that voted against him at the UN, as well as lamenting how little influence the US had actually bought.
Of course, the $7 trillion is mostly not foreign aid, but military spending, and as President Trump is always eager to remind people, he is particularly supportive of massive military increases, and has continued and escalated overseas operations, largely in the Middle East, since taking office.
Trump has, however, been fond of presenting the money spent on the Middle East as a waste, making a similar claim back in February, albeit when it was just $6 trillion, and complaining then that the US didn’t get a single oil well out of all that war.
It is still noteworthy, however, that President Trump does have these moments of reflection, wherein he actually tries to assess what the US has gotten out of all this spending in the Middle East.
It is disheartening, at the same time, that he is able to ascertain that the money was wasted, but has no intentions of not continuing to squander money at an increased rate in the Middle East.
That $7 Trillion went predominately into the pockets of weapons manufacturers in the USA so I suspect they don’t support the “Waste” label.
Although health care ACA would surely have benefited for such an investment. I read somewhere it is enough money to put every American High School student through college.
I did the math. Old math. 7 trillion could pay for an $80,000 education for 87.5 million people. But of course the FED only loans fake money to the US to buy weapons and destroy Israel’s enemies.
They’re drunk on their own hubris.
It’s approaching senescence.
Great word.
I had to look that up, lol. I love new words! Good one!
So Trump (Mr. Id) makes a snap judgement about misplaced priorities. Oh, how wistful of him. Meanwhile, the whole direction and impetus of his administration is geared toward enriching the MIC and the banksters, to whom he has been beholden for decades. If you don’t believe me, Google Trump and Roy Cohn. One brain fart does not a major change in policy make.
I guess that is the meaning of a “half-wit” – he realizes that we wasted $7 Trillion dollars in the Mid East, but he cannot also see that the waste was for the sake of the criminal nation of Israel for which he now wants to further bankrupt America by legitimating its latest and biggest theft.
Is he angry about spending 7 trillion foolishly as if there would be a way of spending 7 trillion wisely? Maybe a couple of those oil wells he spoke of would have made it a wise decision?
Have there ever been any three point five trillion dollar oil wells…?????
C’mon, you didn’t get my (attempted) point? Trump always seems more concerned with the bottom line than he does about what should concern him.
A couple of oil wells…. like pissing in the ocean of debt.. America has been burnt, bamboozled and blurred.. It never was truly any kind of persuit of happiness place anyway. Seems to have forgotten all that.. These days its persuit of the buck and hegemony… full spectrum dominance type policies… Even though we killed a few million based on lies or bad intelligence in the last few wars, our leaders are saying WE should be the ones to rule the world. We are the ones to save the world from the forces of evil Wars based on lies and lies based on wars.. No one wounded, and no bullet holes in the Maddox. No torpedo’s struck it either.. Still we were able to kill two million with Kissinges calling the shots in Vietnam, no pun intended…. No WMDs in Iraq either, but we killed a million there too..And in Syria on the very day that the weapons inspectors arrived, Assad, we are told used nerve gas.. I’m not sure if he did or didn’t, but somehow close to half a million have perished and counting
MVGuy, I agree, you are spot on.
I don’t actually know the numbers, but I would bet we’ve used more oil warring in the ME, than we have gotten from the ME.
A POTUS just saying that is a breath of fresh air, Ill take it!
Sure, think I remember seeing him at some of the antiwar demonstrations. If questioned about the money by a qualified journalist for 10 minutes, he would display he knows nothing about it. The trillions haven’t been paid yet, just hemorrhaging interest payments.
Mr. President…you are not a leader when complaining about history. Adjust to what is happening: Negotiate out of the many wars we involved in . Stop favoring certain countries at the expense of others.
“…foolishly spent $7 trillion in the Middle East…”
And yet, he continues the policies of the previous 2 (at least) Administrations, expanding into additional ill-advised adventures despite his utterance of the bald-faced truth.
The purpose of the War Department is to provide corporate welfare of hundreds of billions of dollars for the their massive contractors who have their tentacles in every state controlling the congress. We all know these wars are UNWINNABLE but winning is not the issue. We are being SCAMMED and Trump has these moments where he seems like he might pull back on these failed wars but then his actions tell the truth as he plans to increase the WAR DEPT budget by tens of billions more. America the global war monger.
And how much of that was on his watch??? And continues EVERY SECOND??
What he is saying here is that he will do better job wasting the next 7 trillion dollars in the middle east.
If the USA used the money for infrastructure, education, health care, housing for the poor, productive green jobs…. what a different country and world it would be. LOL
What he is saying here is that he will do a better job of wasting the next 7 trillion dollars in the middle east.
in the picture with the article, it looks like he’s trying to keep his head from exploding…..If only he’d actually change course away from the militaristic policies of the past, he might get some relief
Looks like a screenshot from Scanners, just before the motherf**kers head blows up.
This statement perhaps shows that all the adulation, pomp & circumstamce has not blotted out and dispelled altogether the truths he discovered and spoke when he was campaigning. We cannot ever fathom the pressure of the office, much less an acquisitive and manipulative family. Its good to know that out of the mouths of neophytes come words of wisdom….
He likes to throw out some Ron Paul sounding rhetoric now and then but never does anything tangible to reverse the policies.
I dunno. I find it rather refreshing that a president’s IQ finally matches his decision-making.
Does it also include the 2.3 trillion that mysteriously disappeared.
I know it’s hard to overlook the 7 trillion dollars spent fighting Israel’s enemies in middle east wars when they only invested a few hundred million in contributions to buy off our politicians but wait until the 6,000 Gold Star mothers learn that their children were killed fighting for Israel.