Russian state TV was thrilled with President Donald Trump's contentious visit to NATO on Wednesday, culminating with commentator Tatyana Parkhalina saying she "never thought I'd live to see" an American president sow as much discord into the alliance as Trump did this week.
It translates to:
"I never thought I’d live to see this—neither the USSR nor Russia, who tried many times to drive the wedge between transatlantic allies but Washington is doing everything to break down the foundations of transatlantic alliance & unity."
The segment was captured and translated by Julia Davis, an investigative journalist who founded the Russian Media Monitor, which tracks lies and propaganda fed to the press from the Russian government.
Russian jubilation over Trump's behavior at NATO drew calls on Twitter for Special Counsel Robert Mueller "drop the hammer" on any connection he has discovered between Trump, his presidential campaign, and if either colluded with the Russian government to steal the 2016 election.
For some, the circumstantial evidence that the president has been in cahoots with the Russians is undeniable. "Impeach the traitor," one user wrote.
Another follower said Trump is following orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin to "bring down democracy across the board in the west."
"Why are Trump supporters so blind?" another user asked, noting the president's unwavering support among a sizeable portion of the American electorate.
And then, of course, came the Trump-Putin bromance memes.
Wednesday's NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium began with Trump accusing Germany of being “a captive of Russia,” as well as making demands that NATO countries increase their contributions from two percent to four percent of their GDPs.
“I think it’s very sad when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia, where you’re supposed to be guarding against Russia and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia,” Trump said. “They will be getting between 60 and 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline, and you tell me if that is appropriate because I think it’s not.”
In fact, Germany receives roughly 40 percent of its oil and 30 percent of its coal from Russia, not 60-70 as Trump claimed.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel fired back, citing her experience growing up in Soviet-controlled East Germany:
Because of given circumstances, I want to point out one thing: I experienced the Soviet occupation of one part of Germany myself. I am very happy that today we are united in freedom, the Federal Republic of Germany. Because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions. That is very good, especially for people in eastern Germany.
Trump also demanded that NATO member nations increase their collective defense spending to four percent of their GDP.
Though the United States does indeed pay more into NATO than any other country, the figure is around 3.5 percent, according to NATO itself.
NATO guidelines suggest each of the 29 member nations spend around two percent of their GDP, however, this is not a requirement, and countries typically pay what they can afford.
