It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYC. Good morning everyone. Happy Monday,

happy Lunar New Year for those of you who celebrate the Lunar New Year later in the

hour. We'll talk to the first Chinese American Congress, Congress member, council member ever from Brooklyn in the New York City Council. We'll talk about Lunar New Year and a lot of New York City policy things, but this week begins in national politics

with some things you probably have heard about regarding President Biden, and at least

one thing you may not have heard about regarding former President Trump.

At a campaign rally in South Carolina on Saturday, Trump actually encouraged Russia

to attack NATO nations, our NATO allies, even France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

What?

The context was Trump's insistence that NATO countries meet the goal in the NATO obligation

to obligation agreement to spend 2% of their annual budgets on defense.

That's a legitimate issue.

Countries not meeting it include Canada, France, Germany, Italy,

and Spain.

But Trump said if they don't increase the defense spending to that threshold,

the US would not help defend them if Russia attacks.

And the even more astonishing part, the part that would have made much more news if we weren't becoming numb to Trump's making common cause with the

authorities who support him, was when he actually encouraged, he used the word encourage,

any country presumably Russia you'll hear the context to do so with no US response here it is they asked me that question One of the presidents of a big country who stood up and said, well sir, if we don't pay and

we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us?

I said, you didn't pay, you're delinquent?

He said, yes, let's say that happened.

No, I would not protect you.

...