Speaking from a Bavarian beer tent at a campaign rally, the leader of the free world made it official on Sunday.
“We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands,” Angela Merkel said, before delivering the following stark assessment of the political environment in the United States and the UK:
The times in which we can fully count on others are over, as I have experienced in the past few days.
Here's the video of Merkel's speech in Munich saying that Europe can't rely on the US & the UK anymore and "must take destiny in own hands". pic.twitter.com/dq8cUOeT37
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) May 28, 2017
The chancellor was of course referring to the G7 summit in Sicily.
Angela Merkel says Germany can no longer rely on America under Donald Trump https://t.co/x96OGcNIQm
— The Independent (@Independent) May 28, 2017
There's not been a statement like this from Germany in generations. pic.twitter.com/UWH8513s8H
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/BCAppelbaum/status/868869531128799232
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And just like that, Donald Trump has managed to alienate the person who in the eyes of many, is Western democracy’s last, and strongest line of defense.
From hope…
…to despair, in one year…
“And I looked, and beheld an orange horse’s ass: and his name that sat on him was Putin, and Kushner followed with him”
— Revelation 6:8, milbank version
I’m just glad I’ve now got a relatively high percentage of my portfolios in cash.
No hyperbole: this is terrible
“Not a reliable partner” is ludicrous on its face. By what measure? She doesn’t even have the right to make such a claim. At 1.2% of German GDP, that NATO partner is well short of the agreed upon minimum. And we contribute almost twice as much, relative to GDP. The words coming out of her mouth are hypocritical and whiny.
Yes, let’s encourage them to increase their military spending, because that worked so well for the world the last time that happened…That’s exactly what we need now: a bigger German military and increased government spending on defense…
So you are basing this entirely on Germany’s level of defense spending? Has it ever occurred to you that there are other things that we can partner on with the people of Europe? Your comment is ludicrous, please resubmit something more well thought-out.
Would you count on him? Not I, not for a minute?
Make no mistakes, these feelings are widely shared across Europe whether they say it publicly or not. It’s not just that the US President is making hostile or antagonistic prononcements. it is that the US administration can’t articulate its objectives and policy priorities. Diplomats go back and forth across the pond and Europeans have very little to report back.
Is it just ‘America under Trump’ that dismays Europeans? More likely our electoral system seems at flaw. Congressional ineptitude/gridlock continues. Our political system is dysfunctional. We cannot lecture the rest of the world about corruption when money buys so much political influence here. From my travels abroad I know how closely we are followed. The rest of world might admire our Constitution, our economy’s ‘dynamism,’ and freedom of religion but where are we ‘leading’ the ‘free world’?
Somebody tell me! Was there a treaty or treaties that prevented Germany from re-arming after WW2? If so when did they expire? Also the Americans basically occupied Germany(West) after the war and then stayed. How is that Germany’s fault? Why would you build a huge military complex when your occupied with an offshoot of the largest military complex ever built( especially if you weren’t allowed). Anyway just watch,Germany will ultimately build a peerless armed force as well as a massive military industrial complex that will match any country’s in the world. Be careful what you wish for!