“This notion that American taxpayers should be conscripted into the defense of Europe is ridiculous.” This was among the messages I delivered to a receptive crowd as a keynote speaker at The American Conservative's "Up From Chaos" foreign policy conference. Additional keynote speakers included Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Dan Bishop, Joe Kent, J.D. Vance, and David Sacks.
NATO is a cold war relic that became obsolete when the Soviet empire fell. President Trump said that Europe needs to pay its "fair share" in NATO. I say the "fair share" for Europe to pay for their defense is 100%. The notion that American taxpayers should be conscripted into the defense of Europe is ridiculous. Also, if we believe the media and this small country of Ukraine has single-handedly held off the entire Russian military successfully, then why do we need to subsidize Germany's defense? I mean, surely Germany is at least as competent as Ukraine.
My remarks also dispelled a pervasive myth that the United States may be bound by treaties or agreements to engage in war: we are NOT. Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war, and this power also encompasses acts of war. There is no loophole around Congress's exclusive power to declare war.
Some will claim Article 5 of the NATO Treaty requires the United States to come to the defense of an attacked NATO member. But Article 11 of the NATO Treaty states that the provisions of the treaty are dependent on each member country’s constitution. In other words, the NATO Treaty acknowledges that the U.S. Constitution cannot be violated in order to engage in warfare.
Similarly, some make the ridiculous claim that the Budapest Memorandum contains a loophole requiring the United States to go to war in Ukraine. This memorandum was rather difficult to even research, as I could not find it in the many books of relevant treaties concerning the U.S. Once I finally found the terms of the memorandum, which was signed by no one of importance, I discovered that it does not contain mutual defense language and places no obligation on anyone to defend Ukraine. The Budapest Memorandum has zero legal authority. It is also worth noting that even if the NATO Treaty or Budapest Memorandum did contain language indebting us to defending Ukraine, Title 50 U.S. Code section 1547 of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states that no treaty can obligate the U.S. to war.
Lastly, I discussed the sanctions passed by Congress and their likely repercussions. Contrary to what the administration and media would have you believe, these sanctions are not as likely to affect Vladimir Putin as much as they will the citizens of Russia and the U.S. The price of fertilizer, one of our largest Russian imports, has risen 300 percent. These are real-world consequences, which are already affecting farmers and grocery shoppers in Kentucky.
In liberty,