German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Trump (YouTube)
James Kirchick, Foreign Policy: Merkel Has Disastrously Bungled Her Relationship With Trump
The chancellor’s approach has been typical of German foreign policy: moralistic, hypocritical – and completely ineffective.
This week, the leaders of France and Germany make back-to-back visits to Washington. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump will honor his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, with his first state dinner; three days later, he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. High up on both leaders’ agendas will be trade, with the European exemption from U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs set to expire on May 1, and the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump has insisted European leaders “fix” by May 12.
But beyond specific policy disagreements, Trump has presented a fundamental challenge for continental Europe’s two most important powers — a challenge to which France and Germany have responded very differently. The two approaches, which can essentially be boiled down to French pragmatism versus German petulance, are entirely characteristic of their respective political cultures. One of the two approaches – likewise characteristically – has proved far more effective.
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WNU Editor: For this blog I monitor and use the German news websites DW, Spiegel Online, and Local.ge. To say that their coverage of President Trump has been a disappointment is an understatement. It has been 100% negative and hostile, and in turn this has been reflected on what has been the German government policy and approach towards President Trump. The problem is that the German approach has completely failed, and the reason why is simple. In their minds they believe that their policies are moralistic and just, while President Trump's policies are the exact opposite. In this context, it is impossible for German politicians to be seen as compromising with President Trump, doubly so in a coalition government where the alliances are very weak. I expect this state of affairs to get worse .... starting with the imposition of U.S. tariffs on German goods to bring balance with the trade deficit that now runs in Germany's favor. My father (who has along history with everything German) once told me that the Germans have a long history of failure when it comes to European and foreign affairs .... and it looks like he was/is right.
