# Trump hands Merkel a bullshit bill for $374B **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089 "2017-03-26T19:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/41 "2017-03-27T14:10:52Z")
I cringe when someone cringes who has their identity so tied up with the state that they cringe when an officeholder does something. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/42 "2017-03-27T14:13:58Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I cringe when someone cringes who has their identity so tied up with the state that they cringe when an officeholder does something. What a fabulously ignorant and pompous statement. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/43 "2017-03-27T14:17:51Z")
Sorry but I am enjoying seeing these bureaucrats melt down having been turned into trump minions. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/44 "2017-03-27T14:23:10Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I cringe when someone cringes who has their identity so tied up with the state that they cringe when an officeholder does something. Isn’t that funny. I feel the same way when I come across people who are incapable of feeling anything but pride no matter _how_ badly the politician they support acts, because the ends justify the means. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/45 "2017-03-27T14:28:34Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I cringe when someone cringes who has their identity so tied up with the state that they cringe when an officeholder does something. By “an officeholder” are you referring to Donald Trump, who as POTUS represents the US to the world? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/46 "2017-03-27T15:25:46Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > The thing that most pings my skeptic meter is that if Trump did pull such a stunt, I think he would do it openly as a show to his supporters that he’s sticking it to Germany like a tough boy. He’s all about meaningless gestures and ostentatious shows of strength. Also I would expect the bill to be denominated in dollars or possibly Euros rather than pound sterling. This would suggest a target audience in Britain, which is coincidentally the origin of the story, rather than for an American audience that Trump would be targeting. While I don’t take Trumps denials as evidence in either direction, the lack of anything approaching confirmation from the German state department leaves me skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/47 "2017-03-27T15:57:31Z")
It’s possible that there is no exact amount, just 2% of their GDP plus interest for the past five years. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/48 "2017-03-27T16:24:21Z")
I think Merkel has too much class to release an image of the document but have no trouble at all believing that it exists. The utter incompetence and arrogance of this administration is breathtaking. I don’t mind incompetence if you’re willing to delegate and learn. I don’t mind arrogance if you really are all that. But in combination, those two traits are a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/49 "2017-03-27T16:39:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t mind incompetence if you’re willing to delegate and learn. I don’t mind arrogance if you really are all that. But in combination, those two traits are a disaster. Man, you’re full of quotable quotes today. 🙂 (I’ve already posted to FB your message to Democratic congresscritters re:ACA fixes). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/50 "2017-03-27T17:28:31Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I cringe when someone cringes who has their identity so tied up with the state that they cringe when an officeholder does something. I know, man, it’s like, we’re all so tense, so serious. I wish we were chill and groovy and super free like you, so we could just turn off, tune out, drop the mic… really let our Gadsden freak flag fly, can you dig it? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/51 "2017-03-27T17:31:58Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Man, you’re full of quotable quotes today. 🙂 (I’ve already posted to FB your message to Democratic congresscritters re:ACA fixes). Thank you. I don’t have any expectation that appealing to the sense of Democrats in office will have much success, I fear they may relish being the opposition more than they want to plan for when they get back in power. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/52 "2017-03-27T18:37:01Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > … the lack of anything approaching confirmation from the German state department leaves me skeptical. Maybe. Or maybe they’re just more grown up about it and see no point in throwing gasoline on a forest fire. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/53 "2017-03-27T20:21:17Z")
Now we supposedly have an anonymous member of the German government telling BuzzFeed (and only BuzzFeed) that the invoice doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/54 "2017-03-27T20:34:46Z")
I posted this over in the other thread: > [@Trump handed Merkel an invoice for $ 300 billion for providing military protection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-handed-merkel-an-invoice-for-300-billion-for-providing-military-protection/783087/32): > > As much as I hate Trump and find him to be an embarassment of the highest magnitude, I don’t buy this one either. My WAG is that some German official, speaking on background to a reporter, said something like, “So, Merkel comes over here and this guy not only refuses to shake her hand he literally\* gives her an invoice for the $300 billion he thinks we haven’t paid NATO, because he’s too stupid to understand that’s not how NATO works!” And that somehow evolved into this story. Not that I think Trump _wouldn’t_ do it, just that the evidence for it is ridiculously thin, and, as **JohnT** notes, if Trump had done that, he would have bragged about it. > > \*_literally_: adj. figuratively > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Now we supposedly have an anonymous member of the German government telling BuzzFeed (and only BuzzFeed) that the invoice doesn’t exist. I wonder why someone would request anonymity to say that it _didn’t_ happen. Don’t you usually ask for anonymity to reveal embarrassing information? It’s like the source thinks it’s more risky to actually say something that vindicates Trump than to pile on. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/55 "2017-03-27T20:46:35Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I know, man, it’s like, we’re all so tense, so serious. I wish we were chill and groovy and super free like you, so we could just turn off, tune out, drop the mic… really let our Gadsden freak flag fly, can you dig it? Hey, leave off trying to appropriate my culture! And take off those hoop earrings! ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/56 "2017-03-27T21:06:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > By “an officeholder” are you referring to Donald Trump, who as POTUS represents the US to the world? How quaint. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/57 "2017-03-27T21:44:56Z")
The aforementioned Rogue WH Snr Advisor twitter feed has an image of the purported bill, [here.](https://twitter.com/RogueSNRadvisor/status/846371477087649792) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/58 "2017-03-27T22:13:16Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > The aforementioned Rogue WH Snr Advisor twitter feed has an image of the purported bill, [here.](https://twitter.com/RogueSNRadvisor/status/846371477087649792) Judging from the other photos available there, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s a parody Twitter account. I’m fairly sure that “306, Mr. President” is not the official White House greeting and that Steve Bannon doesn’t actually want Rosie O’Donnell played by Kevin James in the movie biopic of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/59 "2017-03-27T22:35:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It would be nice if just ONE pro-Trump Republican would admit to being embarrassed by this. > > I would also like a pony. With all the horse shit from this administration, there just has to be a pony 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089/60 "2017-03-27T22:46:45Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Judging from the other photos available there, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s a parody Twitter account. > > I’m fairly sure that “306, Mr. President” is not the official White House greeting and that Steve Bannon doesn’t actually want Rosie O’Donnell played by Kevin James in the movie biopic of Trump. No limb needed. At least by me, who was convinced from start that this is a parody account. I mean… our motto is either “In God We Trust” or “E Pluribus Unum” not “… Liberty and Justice for all.” :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-hands-merkel-a-bullshit-bill-for-374b/783089.md?page=4)