But he's not aware of the whole story. Japan is paying us money (billions, I think) to keep those bases there. I assume the same goes with other countries. This isn't free protection.
I doubt Trump would had the same views of Japan specifically, as he did then. He seems to have transferred his ire to China.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ilanbenmeir/that-time-trump-spent-n...
And read it almost verbatim at the third debate. It was quite interesting how little his views have changed in the intervening years.
So we should start to see him become more aware of the facts. What affect this has on him remains to be seen.
1. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election...
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/08/trump-didnt-lea...
Perhaps very little, since it's been known for some time they've been doctored to, shall I say, achieve certain domestic political goals.
If he wants to start dealing with this stuff sooner rather than later, he needs to get some of his advisers' clearances current again, and have them start digging.
And I don't know the answer to that question, but it's important in this discussion.