German media outlets are reporting that the country’s Ambassador to the US, Andreas Michaelis, recently wrote a diplomatic op-ed in which he warned about the threats to American democracy under incoming President Donald Trump and his team.
In a five-page cable report sent last week to the German Foreign Ministry and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office, Michaelis said Trump’s second term represents serious threats to the system of democratic checks and balances outlined in the US Constitution.
What does the US ambassador to Germany think is at stake?
Michaelis expressed grave concerns about the future of American democracy, writing, “Checks and balances, as well as fundamental democratic principles, will be weakened as far as possible, with the legislature, law enforcement, and the media stripped of their independence. And misused as political weapons, and big tech will gain co-governing rights.”
First spotted by news agency dpa on Sunday, the cable is now circulating among German media outlets such as Picture Newspaper.
In the paper, Michaelis wrote that he expected Trump to effect “maximum concentration of power in the hands of the President at the expense of Congress and the states.”
Michaelis further wrote that Trump’s policy of “maximum disruption, dismantling the established political order and bureaucratic structures, as well as his plans for revenge, ultimately means a redefinition of the constitutional order.”
German Foreign Ministry offers ‘no comment’, calls US ‘important ally’
Michaelis, who will represent Germany at Trump’s inauguration on Monday, said he sees the incoming president as a man driven by a “desire for vengeance,” thinking he would violate America’s democratic principles “to a great extent.” Will finish by.
The Foreign Ministry in Berlin has said it does not comment on “internal documents, analyzes and embassy reports,” but made it clear that the US is “one of our most important allies.”
It added that Berlin “intends to work closely with the new US administration in the interests of Germany and Europe.”
js/wd (AFP, AP, dpa)
