America, Making Europe Great Again -- August 11, 2017

Updates

August 12, 2017: so, how much "hospital" can one get for $1 billion?

Original Post 

From The Wall Street Journal:

On the outskirts of this small town in southern Germany, the U.S. is spending $1 billion on a hospital an Army general describes as the most ambitious medical construction project the military has ever undertaken.

The excavators rumbling across an expanse of red soil close to the size of 90 football fields send a message, U.S. military officials say: Europe is a vital ally, even in the age of “America First.”

“My grandma used to say, ‘You don’t remodel unless you intend on staying,’” Brig. Gen. Dennis LeMaster, the top U.S. Army medical official in Europe, said in an interview on a nearby U.S. base. “You know, words whisper—actions thunder.”

President Donald Trump’s evolving rhetoric about how he views the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has left Europeans confused over whether the U.S. military remains as committed to Europe as it has been in past decades.

U.S. officials have told allies that it is America’s deeds they should focus on. Construction on the Weilerbach hospital began in 2014, and has continued since Mr. Trump’s election. Now Mr. Trump wants to spend even more on Europe.