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77 Years Ago Today, NATO Was Created to Defend the West—But Is It?

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Image of a political conference featuring Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and former U.S. President Donald Trump discussing NATO at a podium.

Image of a political conference featuring Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and former U.S. President Donald Trump discussing NATO at a podium.

WATCH: 77 Years Ago Today, NATO Was Created to Defend the West—But Is It?

77 years ago, on April 4, 1949, the NATO treaty was signed. The alliance, known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was created to deter Soviet expansion and ensure collective security among Western nations.

For decades, it succeeded in that mission. However, today’s geopolitical landscape raises a more complicated question: not whether the United States should leave NATO, but whether the alliance, in its current form, still serves American interests fairly.

Recent tensions surrounding Iran have exposed a persistent imbalance. While the United States continues to provide the backbone of NATO’s military power, many European allies remain reluctant to fully support American-led operations that fall outside a narrow interpretation of Article 5.

That hesitation is not entirely surprising. NATO’s collective defense clause applies when a member is attacked, not necessarily when the United States engages in offensive or preemptive actions.

Still, the broader issue is reciprocity. The United States maintains extensive military infrastructure across Europe, provides advanced defense capabilities, and has historically underwritten the alliance’s security umbrella. In return, Washington expects more consistent strategic alignment.

As previously reported by The Gateway Pundit, President Donald Trump is reportedly considering withdrawing from NATO, reflecting growing frustration within parts of the American political establishment.

However, leaving the alliance is neither simple nor likely. Legislation passed in 2024 requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate to approve any withdrawal, making unilateral action effectively impossible. 

This legal reality underscores an important point: the debate is not truly about exit, but about leverage and reform.

It is also important to acknowledge that NATO has not always been a one-sided arrangement. The alliance invoked Article 5 for the first and only time after the September 11 attacks, leading European allies to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan. 

Thousands of allied troops were deployed, and many lost their lives alongside American forces. That history matters. It demonstrates that NATO can function as intended when the threat is clearly defined within its framework.

At the same time, structural imbalances have persisted. For years, many NATO members failed to meet the agreed-upon benchmark of spending 2% of GDP on defense. While recent pressure—particularly during the Trump administration—has pushed more countries toward that target, disparities remain. 

The United States continues to account for a disproportionate share of total NATO defense spending, raising legitimate concerns about burden-sharing.

Reform, therefore, should focus on three key areas. First, enforceable defense spending commitments must become the norm rather than the exception. While this has largely been the case under Trump, it remains unclear how NATO allies will respond under future administrations. 

NATO should also clarify expectations for allied support in operations that, while not strictly defensive, still serve broader Western interests. 

Finally, the alliance must adapt to modern threats, including cyber warfare, economic coercion, and strategic competition with powers such as China, rather than remaining overly focused on its Cold War structure.

Leaving NATO would create a vacuum that adversaries such as Russia and China would quickly exploit. The alliance provides the United States with forward operating bases, intelligence coordination, and strategic depth that cannot be easily replicated.

Of course, European nations would likely bear the greatest immediate consequences if the United States were to leave NATO. However, that does not mean withdrawal would be the right decision. 

Trump is known for following through on his positions, but that does not preclude negotiation. The same principle applies to NATO: the goal should not be abandonment, but a recalibration of the alliance to better reflect mutual responsibility and shared interests.

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The post 77 Years Ago Today, NATO Was Created to Defend the West—But Is It? appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Euro-Globalists Meet in Paris To ‘Discuss’ the Strait of Hormuz, But Iran Has Already Opened the Waterway, and Trump Discards the Participation of the ‘Paper Tigers’

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April 18, 2026

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Donald Trump stands in profile beside three men against a vibrant red background, highlighting a political or business context.Donald Trump stands in profile beside three men against a vibrant red background, highlighting a political or business context.Geopolitical midgets Macron, Merz, and Starmer are again getting trolled by Trump

‘Useless’ allies not needed anymore, says Trump.

Be it in the Russia-Ukraine war – where they want it to continue for as long as possible – or in the US military confrontation with Iran – where they betrayed their main NATO ally – one thing you can always expect from Euro-Globalist failing leaders: meetings – lots of meetings.

The delusional European ‘powers’ make purely symbolic decisions that yield no practical outcome.

The current cast of Globalist leaders shares one thing in common: dismal poll numbers and historic levels of voter rejection.

So, they try to gain some clout by meddling in foreign issues as much as possible.

And that’s how they find themselves ridiculously discussing the opening of Hormuz AFTER it is already opened by Iran.

The result was inevitable: they got told off by Donald J. Trump yet again, treated as ‘useless’.

The Telegraph reported:

“Mr. Trump has again lashed out at Nato allies after the announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened.

The US president suggested that European nations and others should ‘stay away’ from the region ‘unless they just want to load up their ships with oil’.”

Tweet from Donald Trump discussing NATO's offer for assistance after the Hormuz Strait situation, expressing skepticism about their support.

“He said: ‘Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from Nato asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL’.

‘They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger’.”

Read more:

NATO Secretary General Rutte Agrees With Trump That Some Allied ‌Countries Were Tested and Failed During the Iran Crisis

The post Euro-Globalists Meet in Paris To ‘Discuss’ the Strait of Hormuz, But Iran Has Already Opened the Waterway, and Trump Discards the Participation of the ‘Paper Tigers’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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British Conservative Douglas Murray on the Failure of the US Education System (Video)

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April 18, 2026

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Screencap of YouTube video.

Douglas Murray, an investigative journalist and the author of The Strange Death of Europe and The War on the West, sat down with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit to discuss a variety of topics, including the dismal state of education in the Unites States.

Murray, an outspoken British conservative, told Streit, “I mean, I say this as a great lover of America, but the education system in this country is shocking. And it’s not to do with money. It’s not to do with a lack of resources.”

“If in New York State, for instance, almost $30,000 is allocated per pupil per year for their education, that’s a hell of a lot of money.”

Streit added, “Yeah, it’s not money, it’s monsters. It’s the other end.”

Murray continued, “Exactly. I mean, it is. And it’s just shocking. The unions, these people just have not done their job. They have so woefully underperformed.”

“And when you have the levels of illiteracy and numeracy in a society like this. It’s shocking.”

“The world’s number one economy, a superpower, should be able to make sure that it’s not like in a lot of areas 50% of K-12 students just don’t have basic literacy or numeracy.”

Watch:

According to The Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), New York State has the highest per-pupil spending in the nation for over 20 years running.

For the 2024–25 school year, the state was projected to spend approximately $36,293 per student (total expenditures including local, state, and federal funds). This is more than double the national average of roughly $17,000–$18,000. Earlier data for 2023 showed New York at about $36,976 per pupil.

Yet according to assessments like the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Nation’s Report Card, New York students are not achieving grade-level mastery in core subjects at high rates, despite the massive investment.

2024 NAEP results for NY State overall showed:

Grade 4 Reading: 31% proficient or above.
Grade 4 Math: 37% proficient or above.
Grade 8 Reading: 31% proficient or above.
Grade 8 Math: 26% proficient or above.

Nationally, proficiency hovers around 30–39% in these categories, so New York is average-to-below-average despite top spending, and scores have shown little sustained improvement over decades, even as costs soared.

New York City students fare even worse.

New York City public schools, the nation’s largest district, spend even more than the New York state average.

According to The New York Post, for the 2025–26 school year, the NYC Department of Education is projected to spend a record $42,168 per student—the highest in the country—on a total budget of $44.6 billion.

2024 NAEP results for NYC showed:

Grade 4 Reading: 28% proficient.
Grade 4 Math: 33% proficient.
Grade 8 Reading: 29% proficient.
Grade 8 Math: 23% proficient.

Watch the entire interview at PragerU here.

The post British Conservative Douglas Murray on the Failure of the US Education System (Video) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Worthless Racist Chicago Thug Who Livestreamed Brutal Torture of Disabled White Teen on Facebook Arrested for Beating and Mugging White Cyclist After Being Released from Prison

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April 18, 2026

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Mugshot of a man with dreadlocks and a visible tattoo, alongside a distressed individual sitting in a corner with tape over their mouth.

Mugshot of a man with dreadlocks and a visible tattoo, alongside a distressed individual sitting in a corner with tape over their mouth.

A vile racist anti-white Chicago predator who was one of the deranged psychopaths who brutally tortured a disabled white teenager on Facebook live in 2017 has been arrested for attacking another white person after being released from prison.

Tesfaye Cooper, 30, was arrested on April 8 after he and an accomplice allegedly chased down a white cyclist who simply waved at them near Chicago’s Clark-Lake CTA station.

The pair beat the man, spat in his face, stole his bike, and claimed they were “Gangster Disciples,” according to court records and police reports.

This is the same Tesfaye Cooper who, along with three other black accomplices Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington, and Tanishia Covington, kidnapped, tortured, and livestreamed the brutal assault of a mentally disabled white 18-year-old on Facebook Live in 2017.

That attack included racial slurs, anti-white taunts like “F-ck white people,” beatings, and forcing the victim to drink from a toilet. It was charged as a hate crime.

Cooper served just seven years in prison for that heinous hate crime before being released roughly two years ago. He is now facing new charges for the latest assault.

In 2017, Cooper and his group specifically targeted a vulnerable white victim because of his race, a fact prosecutors acknowledged with hate crime charges.

Now, in 2026, Cooper is accused of viciously attacking yet another white man for no reason other than a friendly wave.

Mainstream media outlets have largely downplayed or omitted the racial dynamics in both cases, focusing instead on generic “crime” stories.

According to reports, Cooper and 33-year-old Mazi Pearson cornered the cyclist in the train station mezzanine. Pearson punched the victim while Cooper attempted to strike him and spat in his face.

CWB Chicago reports:

In a detention filing, prosecutors said a 48-year-old Cicero man waved at Pearson and Cooper as he passed them on his bike near Clark and Lake streets around 1:30 p.m. Pearson and Cooper responded to the man’s wave by claiming to be “GDs,” slang for Gangster Disciples, and chasing the victim into the Clark-Lake station, according to the filing.

Once inside the station, the victim paid his fare while Cooper and Pearson chased him through the turnstile and backed him up against the mezzanine elevator, prosecutors said. With the victim cornered, Pearson allegedly punched him in the shoulder. A CPD report said Cooper approached the victim at the same time with a closed fist and tried to strike him while Pearson spat in the man’s face.

Pearson allegedly tossed the victim’s bike over the turnstile and walked out with Cooper, taking the bike with them. A CTA security guard witnessed the robbery, prosecutors said.

The victim was a 48-year-old man from Cicero.

It is impossible not to notice that Illinois’ lenient sentencing and early-release policies are enabling repeat violent offenders, especially in high-crime cities like Chicago, run by progressive Democrats.

Despite the graphic, racially charged nature of his prior crime, Cooper was back on the streets in no time, able to strike again.

The post Worthless Racist Chicago Thug Who Livestreamed Brutal Torture of Disabled White Teen on Facebook Arrested for Beating and Mugging White Cyclist After Being Released from Prison appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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