I think you're massively overstating things there. Trump claims success regardless of what happens because he's an egotistical liar. There was an existing agreement to aim for 2% and that hasn't changed. The 4% is ridiculous and will just be ignored.
A great bit of advice is to not get into an argument with an idiot. It gets you nowhere and just gives their argument a veneer of credibility.
Who do you think believes anything anything he says apart from his base? And they wouldn't be persuaded by anything anyone else says if it's anti-Trump.
How has his approval rating increased if there aren't some people outside of his base who are still open-minded towards him?
Stoltenberg has clearly said that they'll stay with what they've agreed a while ago: 2 percent until 2024. Trump claimed beforehand that that's not good enough, but Nato still stood by it. How could Stoltenberg have made it more clear?
Trump will always claim victory. It's what he does. He could get kicked in the bollocks by Putin in Monday and he'd say that that was his plan all along. And his supporters would still believe it.
I didn't read/hear anything about Stoltenberg's comments until this evening, although these comments are the type from US "allies" that piss me off.
Mr Stoltenberg said members had had a "frank and open discussion" which "created a new sense of urgency", and that the "clear message from President Trump" was "having an impact".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44808077So which is it? Is Trump taking entirely undeserved credit for something that was agreed years ago as the likes of Macron have said, or is he actually due some praise as Stoltenberg is suggesting? How hard is it to take a fucking consistent line?
How many members of the general public have a fucking clue (or give a fuck) what 2% of GDP means? Like his ‘contract’ with Kim Jong Un, a comment is not a binding commitment.
No offence but Trump is the massive c*nt here. One of the ways he gains advantage is by people bigging up his ridiculous claims and doing down those on ‘our’ side.
Yes, Trump is the biggest c*nt here but others can do better in opposing him, such as "allies" who are so wedded to diplomacy that they allow Trump far too much leeway to claim success. The South Korean government has been doing the same with his approach to North Korea. He's achieved fuck all, so why not say it?