It’s hilarious watching the folks that do the most bitching about the defense budget getting their panties wadded up over this.
Damn, how terrible, they are at least partially compensating the US for helping with their defense.
Maybe the Europeans can learn something from this example?
Trump is being bashed because he’s using huge amounts of diplomatic capital in transactions for pennies.
If the president is worrying about 500 million or a billion dollars when it comes to moving the pieces of our foreign policy around, then he’s thinking like a bean-counting businessman and not the CiC.
You folks should never read up on WWI, WWII, or Korea. If this is your new bar you won’t like what you learn.
I’ll post it in here without starting a new thread but good on the President‘S admin to do the below:
Exactly! Why should the countries we provide our Military services, our blood, sweat and tears not pay for that? This is something private citizen Donald Trump talked about years ago in regards to the amount of over a million $$ a day it costs the USA to do the military exercises every year with South Korea so damned straight they should pay because they can afford it as the SK economy is good , and ditto that for oil rich Saudi Arabia.
There is nothing wrong with it and as a military wife I don’t believe service members would be “furious” about it, it’s the common sense thing to do. Our tax dollars should go toward our military and the blood, sweat and tears should be for the benefit of our country and not the benefit of foreign allies who can well afford to pay and it’s pretty ridiculous that they haven’t until now.
Slight correction. Those joint exercises probably cost us more like a million per/hr.
Why is the US sending soldiers to SA at all?
YEAH the $$BENJAMINS$$ that President Trump wants to save the American taxpayer. 
And NEWS FLASH our military has been in SA for decades, long before President Trump took office and since we are now, thanks to him, energy independent with the best economy on the globe we can get out of the ME region and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that happen in President Trumps 2nd term.
Forward deploying to the area in case they are needed.
If we have more embassies come under attack or other US personnel in danger we now have a large QRF capability minutes or just a few hours away instead of half a world away where it can take 24 hours or more to get them where they are needed.
It’s also a deterrent against further attacks by Iran on those bases where they are staging.
How long before SA claims there was no money exchange?
I’m sure its a lie.
Are we mercenaries? Or do we deploy our forces for our own interests?
if they pay us, we are their soldiers.
BS, they aren’t paying our soldiers, they aren’t even compensating us for a fraction of the cost nor are they in any way in command of US forces there or anywhere else.
Were US forces actually UK forces in WWII? No. The UK however compensated us to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in today’s dollars however for our help.
Ever heard of Lend Lease?
“We”?
Learn what the word means.
Both words actually.
“We” are neither and he was certainly never one of us.
With respect to WWI does one start reading from 1914?
Start where you like but we’re talking about American Involvement in the two wars.
Show us the money! Proof it’s been paid and where.
If the billion was given directly to Trump (I’m not saying it was), would you be ok with it? I’m sure it wasn’t; surely he wouldn’t be so incompetent to allow that. But asking the hypothetical…
This is why Trump election win in 2020 will be as sweet as it was the first time.
That suggestion is delusional.
Why is it a delusional question?
