Donald Trump Just Destroyed Relations with One of Our Closest Allies
Congratulations, Mr. President. On your quest to “Make America Great Again,” you just destroyed one of the U.S.’ most important relationships with a country that since World War II has been key to geopolitical stability in Europe and beyond.
In a stunning speech at a Sunday election rally in Munich, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Trump had forced European leaders to turn their backs on the United States and go it alone.
“The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days,” Merkel said, according to AFP. “We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.”
Merkel’s comments followed a G7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, on Saturday in which Trump made it clear he is strongly considering withdrawing the U.S. from the 2015 Paris climate change accord, which is backed by 195 nations. Merkel said those discussions were “six against one.” It’s not hard to figure out who that “one” is.
In a joint statement, G7 leaders said, “The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics.”
Trump also picked a fight with Germany over trade and lectured NATO leaders over paying their fair share to the alliance in a move that more closely resembled a mafia shakedown than diplomacy.
As AFP noted, Trump had a very different assessment of the situation, bragging on Twitter about his “big results!”
Merkel is campaigning for a fourth term ahead of upcoming elections in September. According to The New York Times, the German leader clearly needed to blow off steam after spending so much time with Trump and his minions: “Ms. Merkel, who is balancing the imperatives of preserving the alliance with the United States and sustaining her re-election effort, took stock at a beer tent stop in Munich on Sunday,” the newspaper reported.
Ms. Merkel, we know exactly how you feel.