Pence Assures Europe and Nato of Trump Support and Demands End to Russian Aggression

Mainstream media is focused right now on whether President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security can deport all the illegal immigrants now living in the United States. Of course they can, but with time and logistical difficulties. But, the MSM is not concerned with the logistics of deporting them. The MSM is stressed about how President Trump could "criminalize" all these people, driving them underground where they will no longer be safe in seeking US social sservices and where they will be afraid to report other illegals engaged in criminal activity. But, isn't that the goal??? At least the part about getting them off social services rolls and out of the country. Let's leave the Progressives to their lament. There are more interesting things to discuss -- why, for example, Progressives and their MSM have not mentioned the real facts coming out of Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Europe. • There is little reporting about the Pence trip because it has been made explicitly clear by both his staff and the White House that he was on a mission for President Trump. And it was a mission that provides facts to negate the MSM litany of fake news attacks on Trump and his team, accusing them of being 'soft' on Russia at best, or having signed on as KGB operatives at worst. • • • THE PENCE MESSAGES TO EUROPE. The Associated Press on Friday provided a running account of Vice President Pence's meetings with European and other leaders while he was in Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference. (1) Pence met with the president of Ukraine and assured him of US support. Pence's office says he "underscored US support" for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and underlined that the US does not recognize "Russia's occupation and attempted annexation" of Crimea. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office says during Saturday's meeting with the Vice President in Munich his country "received a powerful signal that the US stands with Ukraine, that Ukraine is among the top priorities for the new US administration." (2) Vice President Pence reaffirmed US commitment to the security of the Baltic states in a meeting with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Pence's office says the Vice President noted the Trump administration's support for the collective defense of NATO allies and the need for NATO to counter terrorism. Pence's office said the leaders expressed their concerns over the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine and discussed the need to make progress toward the full implementation of the Minsk agreement to resolve the conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatists. (3) Pence met separately with the leaders of Iraq and its Kurdistan region, thanking both for committing to fight ISIS. The White House says Pence also commended Iraq's security forces for their battlefield success during his meeting with Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Officials say both leaders underscored the importance of continuing progress in the fight against ISIS, as well as on Iraq's economic recovery and freeing the city of Mosul from ISIS. In the meeting with Masoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Pence thanked Barazani and said the US continues to support a unified, federal and democratic Iraq. The White House says Pence encouraged close cooperation between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan regional government. (4) The White House said Vice President Pence expressed support for Afghanistan's national unity government during a meeting with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani. They talked about ways to improve relations between their countries and to advance mutual interests, particularly on counterterrorism cooperation and economic development. The White House said they also affirmed the importance of continuing the "strategic partnership" between the US and Afghanistan. (5) The White House reported that Pence and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have committed to continue close cooperation on a range of global issues. Both leaders separately addressed the Munich Security Conference before their meeting. Pence and Merkel also discussed the need for NATO member countries to meet their "burden-sharing" commitments. The White House says they also agreed that the alliance must continue to transform itself to meet 21st century threats. Pence thanked the chancellor for leading on Ukraine and expressed appreciation for Germany's contributions in Afghanistan and to the coalition fighting ISIS. (6) In his Munich speech, the Vice President reinforced the Trump administration's message that NATO members must spend more on defense. NATO's 28 member countries promised in 2014 to commit to spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense within a decade. Pence said in his remarks that only the US and four other NATO members are meeting the standard [Britain, Italy, Hungary and Estonia]. President Trump has called on NATO members to spend more on their militaries and Pence said the "time has come" for allies to boost spending because the dangers they all face are growing and changing every day. He added that failure to meet the spending commitment undermines the alliance's ability to come to each other's aid. Vice President Pence said in his address that the United States will "hold Russia accountable" even as President Trump searches for new common ground with Russia at the start of his presidency. Pence told the Security Conference that with regard to Ukraine, the international community must hold Russia accountable and demand that it honor the 2015 Minsk peace agreement aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists. Pence also offered assurances of the US commitment to NATO and the European Union. The Vice President also assured NATO allies that the United States strongly supports NATO and "will be unwavering in our commitment to this trans-Atlantic alliance." He said President Trump "will stand with Europe." • We know what Progressive Democrats and their MSM propagandists are saying about Trump being in Putin's pocket, or being so naive that he is being used as an 'unwitting' Russian agent. But consider this : Vice President Pence touched every hot button Europe has with Trump in relation to NATO, Ukraine, Crimea, and Russian aggression. Would President Trump bother to send his Vice President to Europe to deliver these pro-Europe pro-NATO messages and report on them individually as they were delivered if the Trump administration had no intention of acting on them? We know Donald Trump too well to believe he would waste time doing such a thing if he weren't committed to it. • • • PROGRESSIVES DEMOCRATS FEAR TRUMP. Last week, American Thinker published an article by Jeffrey Ludwig titled "Democrats fear Trump's success with Russia." Ludwig wrote that in one of his latest tweets, President Trump stated : "The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy. Very un-American!" Trump, says Ludwig, "is rightly concerned that he is being portrayed as soft on Russia, and even of cooperating with the Russians in their nefarious plots." • Calling Trump "soft" on Russia is bewildering when we consider Obama's multiple weaknesses when facing Russia. Ludwig lists the major Obama failures : "an arms agreement was signed between US and Russia; Russia and the US were on the same page regarding the Iran deal; Obama relented on his Syrian red line, so called, by accepting Russian intervention to get Bashar al-Assad to eliminate his chemical weapons (whether or not he did is still the $64,000 question); and Russia was allowed to take Crimea with nary a peep from the USA. Further, we all recall Obama saying to Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev when he thought the microphones were off that he would be able to work more closely with the Russians once he was re-elected. Thus, it seems to any impartial observer (including Hillary) that the Obama administration was quite open to deals with Russia. Yet, because of some positive remarks about Vladimir Putin from Trump, the public position taken by the Dems as a whole has been that Trump is soft on Russia....their criticism is more of a political ploy....Trump is against the Iran deal and will be no pushover regarding Russian aggression, but there might be common ground between the US and Russia in the fight against ISIS and other maniacal Islamic groups. This possibility is deeply offensive to the Democrats who insist, against overwhelming evidence, that there is no threat to the US or the West from adherents of Islam." • • • DEAR READERS, Donald Trump has long understood that the Russia relationship was badly bent to favor Russia during 7 years and 10 months of the Obama presidency. Then when it suited him politically, Obama accused Russia of hacking Democrat headquarters and colluding with Trump to beat Hillary Clinton -- all fake news used to cover the stunning electoral loss suffered by the Progressive Democrats. Trump sees the need for a re-orientation of America's relationship with Russia. The Democrats are afraid of such a reorientation -- one that, according to Ludwig : "will successfully lead to an abandonment of the Iran deal and the deliverance of a knockout blow to the Islamic maniacs in the Middle East and around the world. Those successes would prove that the Democrats are weak and silly creatures. Further, Trump has reintroduced a personal element into the insipid world of diplomacy and has a sense that Putin's macho man persona matches more with his own than with the Obama effeminacy." • President Trump's words and actions are proof that he supports NATO and will not desert Europe, but that he is willing to deal with Russia in areas where there is common ground -- all without becoming a weak President, as Barack Obama was in allowing Russia to get the upper hand in the first place. When Donald Trump says he will try to get along with Vladimir Putin, that is not capitulation. It is a firm hand once more at the helm in the White House.