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Chris Thile With an All-Star Cast of Singers and Players: "Comey's Waltz"

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sagehen5/15/2017 8:04:41 am PDT

re: #274 goddamnedfrank

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Article says they’re basically preparing for an angry toddler. So fucking embarrassing.

OMG. OMGOMGOMG!!1!!eleventy!!

If they can keep Trump’s attention, NATO heads of state are expected to discuss two main issues at the May 25 meeting, both catering to the president’s priorities: Counterterrorism and burden sharing.

Part of the issue is staffing: After months of Trump threatening a radically new approach to global alliances the United States helped create, there’s nobody even charting a new course. Trump hasn’t appointed any key high-level posts for Europe, including key Pentagon postings, undersecretaries of state, an assistant secretary of state for Europe, or a new ambassador to NATO. With no middle-management to give direction on a day-to-day basis, Europeans are struggling to decipher exactly what the new administration wants from them.

One former NATO official said the agenda meant to to mollify Trump appeared to amount to repackaging what NATO was already doing — increasing its defense spending and continuing to support U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and the counter-ISIS campaign — in a new wrapper for the president.

“They think they’re fine because they’re going to put old wine in new bottles,” one former senior U.S. official told FP. Whether Trump buys it remains to be seen.