Trump Ignores the Reason America Defends the World

One obstacle to envisioning a Donald Trump presidency is his tendency to contradict himself, often violently. His fervid plans to "take out" terrorists' family members and to ban Muslim U.S. citizens from re-entering the country, to choose just two examples, were short-lived.

But on one issue, Trump has been consistent: his criticism of U.S. allies for not paying their fair share for the "cloak of American protection." This week he got more specific. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump declined to say whether the U.S. would defend the Baltic states, which are members of NATO, if they came under attack by Russia. "Have they fulfilled their obligations to us?" he asked. He also clarified that he was against maintaining the U.S. naval presence in Asia and ground troops in South Korea.