Trump launches new Twitter tirade against Germany | Americas| North and South American news impacting on Europe | DW | 30.05.2017

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Transatlantic alliance

Trump launches new Twitter tirade against Germany

US President Donald Trump has lashed out against Germany once more on Twitter, criticizing its trade surplus and lack of payments to NATO. Things will change, he warned.

USA Donald Trump (picture alliance/AP Photo/L. Bruno)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday again complained about Germany, saying it was disadvantaging his country with its trade surplus and by failing to spend enough on NATO and military defense.

His comments echo several previous remarks of the same kind he has made, notably during recent meetings with European leaders in Brussels, where he called the Germans "bad, very bad" because of the trade deficit they had allegedly inflicted on the US.

At a NATO summit, he also reprimanded 23 of the 28 allies for owing "massive amounts of money," saying that this was "not fair to the people and tax payers of the United States."

He also snubbed fellow participants at a G7 summit in Sicily by refusing to confirm US commitment to the landmark Paris climate agreement.

  • USA Donald Trump und Angela Merkel (picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May)

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    The good, the bad and the ugly

    US President Donald Trump has offered both candid praise and unabashed criticism of Germany and its policies. From calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "possibly the greatest world leader" to describing her open-door refugee policy as a "catastrophic mistake," here are his most memorable quotes regarding Germany.

  • Trump Merkel (Picture alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber)

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    'Greatest'

    "Germany's like sitting back silent, collecting money and making a fortune with probably the greatest leader in the world today, Merkel," Trump said in a 2015 interview with US news magazine Time.

  • G7-Gipfel in Sizilien (picture-alliance/dpa/AP/E. Vucci)

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    'Very bad'

    "The Germans are bad, very bad ... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. Terrible. We'll stop that," Trump said during a NATO leaders summit, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which cited sources at the alliance's meeting.

  • Donald Trump und Angela Merkel (Picture alliance/R. Sachs/CNP)

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    'Something in common'

    "As far as wiretapping, I guess, by - you know - [the Obama] administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said in March during a press conference with Merkel. He was referring to his unproven allegations that ex-President Barack Obama tapped his phone. There was widespread anger in Germany in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency tapped Merkel's phone.

  • Deutschland Asylbewerber in Berlin Symbolbild (Getty Images/S. Gallup)

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    'Illegals'

    "I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals (sic), you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said in a joint interview published by German daily Bild and British newspaper The Times, referring to Merkel's open-door policy for refugees fleeing war and persecution.

  • Demonstration gegen die Wahl von Donald Trump (Picture alliance/dpa/L. Mirgeler)

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    'Germany owes vast sums of money'

    "Despite what you have heard from the fake news, I had a great meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany," Trump said in a two-tweet statement after meeting with Merkel for the first time in March 2017.

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump gesture at the beginning of the G20 meeting in Hamburg

    Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes

    'Turning their backs'

    "The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition," Trump tweeted in the midst of a row within the German goverment. He went on to claim that: "Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"

    Author: Lewis Sanders IV


Frustration in Germany

Trump's seemingly anti-German and anti-European stance during his recent international trip, his first since becoming president, drew a defiant, but concerned response from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who over the past few days has suggested that the transatlantic alliance was on shaky ground.

"The times when we could fully rely on others have passed us by a little bit; that's what I've experienced in recent days," she said at a campaign rally in the southern German city of Munich, adding however, that she was a "convinced transatlanticist."

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has echoed these sentiments, saying the West had become "weaker " because of the US' "shortsighted" polices, and accusing Trump of abandoning Western values.

Read: How the world reacted to Merkel's pivot on Europe

Read: Merkel makes waves with views on EU-US relations

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