Trump is putting Crimea on the bargaining table — and making a veiled threat to Germany by Tom Ricks on Jul 2, 2018, 3:20 PM 
Remember when I wrote that Trump was looking at ways to undercut NATO, such as a US troop pullout from Germany? Sure you do, it was last Friday. Comes now a squad of six reporters from The Washington Post with some of the grim details: “The Pentagon is analyzing the cost and impact of a large-scale withdrawal or transfer of American troops stationed in Germany, amid growing tensions between President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to people familiar with the work.” Two basic options are under review, the scrum at Post added: “The redeployment scenarios under study include a large-scale return of U.S. troops stationed in Germany to the United States and a full or partial move of U.S. troops in Germany to Poland.” Also, on Friday, Trump put Crimea explicitly on the table, telling reporters that, “We’re going to have to see” if he will accept Putin’s claim. To top things off, the US ambassador to Estonia, a career professional, resigned because he could no longer abide Trump’s attacks on NATO. I know some of you think I am over-reacting. But I feel like we are in a real decline-of-the-West mode, like some weird version of the 1930s in which Joseph Kennedy became president. I sure would like to know what Trump said in the letters I am told he has dispatched to NATO allies, putting them on notice. Did anyone get a copy to share? SEE ALSO: Trump reportedly is joking about pulling the US military out of NATO, and no allies are laughing
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