Trump's invite to Putin to attack penny-pinching Nato allies is just blaa blaa blaa

Oh my goodness, Donald Trump really has put the cat among the pigeons. His remark about inviting Russia to do what it wants against a Nato country which fails to spend enough on defence has got European leaders on very high horses, to continue with the animal analogy. Shock, disbelief, condemnation, end of the world, we have had the lot. But this is Trump for heaven's sake. It's the sort of irresponsible, wicked remark he likes to make to stir it up and scare the life out of alliance nations who still, after all these years, have failed to spend the required two per cent of GDP on defence. The UK is one of those who have spent the two per cent although only just and with a bit of interesting accounting but then poured billions of pounds into two giant aircraft carriers which constantly break down. But as for those nations who have never got round to spending enough on defence, Trump cast doubt on whether the US, as the dominant leader of the alliance, would come to their rescue if they were attacked. What!!! shouted the alliance, not honour Article 5 of the alliance treaty, all for one and one for all? Mayhem!!! But, again, this is Trump. It's just his way, albeit alarming, of saying that if he becomes president again he's not going to stand by and let Nato members fail to do their duty on defence spending. He will have loved the reaction he got, just what he wanted. I go along with Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, who told a TV channel that he was unconcerned by Trump's verbal blast. He knows Trump better than most, and Rubio is a pretty sensible guy. So, Nato leaders can calm down. The world as we know it is not coming to an end. It's just another throwaway soundbite by the Donald. He said similar sorts of things before he became president in 2016, threatening to take America out of Nato, but the last time I checked the US was still very much leader of the alliance.