The Chair of Republicans Overseas Greg Swenson says Italian PM Meloni inherited a low defense budget and shouldn’t be blamed for it.
#Italy #Meloni
#Italy #Meloni
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00:00Okay, so she gets no points for military spending, a few points possibly for the trade arrangement between the United States and Italy.
00:08But bottom line, and you know President Trump, you see him, I gather, quite often.
00:13I don't know when you last saw him.
00:14But does he value a relationship more than he would value those details, you know, those numbers with regards to expenditure on defense and, you know, trade services?
00:27Tom, it's a great question. And the answer is absolutely yes. He values the personal relationship.
00:33He knows that the defense spending is really a legacy that she inherited.
00:37I mean, that's not all on her.
00:39Now, maybe she hasn't, you know, rallied enough, you know, in terms of defense spending since she took office.
00:45I don't know that specifically.
00:47But I do think this has been a generational problem.
00:51So that's not on her.
00:52I think she's, if anybody, could bring some kind of spirit to Italy in terms of defending their country, defending their borders, and contributing to NATO and to the European allies.
01:05I think she'd be the one.
01:06And so I think it's an opportunity for her to make some commitments, you know, long term.
01:12Maybe it's even purchasing American military equipment, you know, buy some F-16s or, you know, get involved with some other military supplies.
01:21But they do need to play catch up.
01:23There's no doubt about it.
01:24And I think the continent collectively needs to play catch up.