Whether threatening to dismantle climate protection policies and impose import tariffs on European goods, or imagining a new imperialism claiming the Panama Canal and Greenland, Donald Trump is confirming all the worst fears of many German politicians. .
Despite this, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated the new US President on his inauguration.
Wishing him “strength and success” for the work ahead, he said,[t]“Together, we can provide significant momentum for freedom, peace and security as well as prosperity and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.”
But Scholz was not present in Washington, nor was Friedrich Merz, the opposition leader of Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Trump had invited only politically like-minded politicians such as Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and Argentinian President Javier Meili.
sensitive diplomatic dispatches
Most German politicians have either hinted or openly stated that they would like to see Democratic candidate Kamala Harris enter the White House.
Only Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expecting another Trump administration. Trump loyalist Elon Musk openly supports AfD on his platform[o]”Only the AfD can save Germany” and called Scholze an “incompetent idiot”.
Now, a sensitive assessment from Germany’s Ambassador to the US Andreas Michaelis has contributed to increasing transatlantic tensions. It was a diplomatic cable, intended for German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and leaked to the media, containing sharp criticism of Trump.
In it, the ambassador said Trump was pursuing an agenda of “maximum disruption” and was massively undermining basic democratic principles and the US system of checks and balances.
The German chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz, of the center-right CDU, considers the paper a disaster for German-American relations.
“This is a major blow to the German government’s reputation in Washington. No one from this federal government will be able to find a negotiator in Washington any time soon,” Merz said in an interview on German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
Merz: Europeans must stand together
While Chancellor Scholz has taken a confrontational stance and sharply criticized Trump’s claim on Greenland, Friedrich Merz has been more forward.
According to opinion polls, Merz has a good chance of becoming Germany’s next Chancellor after the upcoming elections on February 23. In such a situation, he will have to deal directly with Trump as the head of the German government.
Merz has said he wants to meet Trump “at eye level” and focus on “uniting European interests”.
“As long as European member states stand together, they will be respected in the world, including the US. As long as they are divided, no one will take us seriously,” Merz said at the Berlin summit of centre-right Europeans. Parties. “So, in my view, this is the ultimate call to action.”
In a hand-written congratulatory letter to Trump, Merz further wrote, “If the German people give me a mandate for the post of Chancellor, one of my priorities will be to work with you towards a new chapter in our relations.”
‘Europe is ready for tariffs’
The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) has already warned of serious consequences in view of the threat of US import tariffs. “The effects of the new US tariffs will be severe for the German economy,” DIHK Chief Executive Helena Melnikov told the German newspaper. rhenish post,
He pointed out that every fourth job in Germany depends on exports and every second job is industrial.
That’s why, in contrast to Merz, Germany’s Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck from the Green Party is taking a more aggressive stance: “Europe is ready. If the Americans impose tariffs, which I neither expect nor want, Europe will certainly Will be in a position to take countermeasures, including measures that could impact the U.S. economy, Habach said in an interview with DW.
Habach, whose responsibilities also include climate action, called Trump’s announcement of withdrawal from the Paris climate accord “a deadly signal to the world.”
But even at home, he has had to see climate protection issues pushed further down the agenda during the current election campaign.
Invited, or not invited
CDU’s Angela Merkel had dealt with Trump during his first presidential term when she was Chancellor of Germany. Now, he has once again spoken in favor of continuing a close partnership with the US.
In his recently published memoirs, the longtime politician candidly expressed his difficulties with Trump at that time.
At her party’s New Year welcome, Merkel argued that Germany’s transatlantic partnership with the US is more indispensable today than it was several years ago. He said it was only “possible” to achieve this [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not win the war and Ukraine remains an independent state” with US help and within the NATO alliance.
Trump has indicated that he wants to end support for Ukraine and instead seek a quick end to the war with Putin. There are fears that Ukraine will have to make territorial concessions to achieve this.
Meanwhile, the far-right AfD, isolated in the German parliament, is seeing its rise thanks to Trump.
The AfD and Trump are close on issues of migration and energy policy. However, the AfD also frequently makes anti-American statements. Nevertheless, Trump’s closeness to the AfD was evident in Washington: while Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz was not invited to the inauguration, two prominent AfD politicians, Tino Kruppalla and Beatrix von Storch, were in attendance.
This article was originally published in German.
