Donald J. Trump has now met most of his European colleagues on their turf.

My understanding is that the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization weren’t exactly opening their arms in a warm embrace of the president of the United States.

They have long memories of the things he said while campaigning for the presidency.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-gets-frosty-greeting-from-eu-leaders/ar-BBBwFBZ?li=BBnb7Kz

Trump called NATO “obsolete,” but has taken it back; he demanded the NATO member nations pay more for their defense; he said he wants to tear up the climate change accord signed this past year in Paris, but now says he United States is still undecided.

I guess I ought to mention, too, that NATO doesn’t trust that big neighbor to its east, Russia, which Trump seems unable to criticize with quite the fervor he expends on the Islamic State and other enemies of the United States.

NATO, which sits at Russia’s front porch, isn’t so, um, tolerant of Vladimir Putin’s motives or the tactics he has employed.

U.S. intelligence agencies already have concluded his government interfered in our election this past year. The Russians have done the same in France and are doing it yet again in Germany. Every leader in Europe knows it; so do our intelligence analysts. The only significant person on Planet Earth who’s denying it — other than Putin and his minions — is the president of the United States.

Is it any wonder that NATO — meeting in Brussels, a city Trump once called a “hellhole” — would be less than chummy with Donald Trump?

Hey, Mr. President. These folks are our allies. They are our friends. They are posted on the front line of defense against Russia, which is neither an ally or a friend.

Trump simply shouldn’t have said what he did about NATO. He might not remember it, or understand the implications of his remarks, but his NATO colleagues damn sure do.