Donald Trump before the US presidential election: "Germany wants to get rid of me"

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Donald Trump in Reading, Pennsylvania: Voting day is approaching

Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP

US President Donald Trump assumes that many countries want to see him lose in the US elections on Tuesday - including Germany.

"China wants to get rid of me. Iran wants to get rid of me. Germany wants to get rid of me," said Trump during a campaign appearance in Reading in the US state of Pennsylvania.

In the past four years, Trump has put his foreign policy under the motto "America First" and deliberately offended traditional allies in Europe on several occasions.

In particular, the German-American relationship deteriorated significantly during his tenure.

A recurring topic of contention was Germany's military spending, which from Trump's point of view is too low.

As a consequence, he has announced the withdrawal of around a third of the US soldiers stationed in Germany.

In the election next Tuesday, Trump is running for a second term.

His democratic challenger Joe Biden is committed to multilateral cooperation.

He was Vice President for eight years under ex-President Barack Obama, making him a familiar face for long-time allies and partners of the United States.

Trump questions Europe's handling of Corona

With a view to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump also questioned the effectiveness of strict everyday restrictions and Europe's handling of the coronavirus.

"The exploding cases in Europe have shown that draconian lockdowns - that's them, draconian - are not stopping the virus," the Republican said at a campaign rally in Newton, Pennsylvania.

"Italy was in lockdown - and now it's starting all over again."

Without giving any data for his claims, Trump said excess mortality in the US is significantly lower in Europe.

"And Europe did a good job, it's a very brutal thing. Everyone thought Germany is doing well, well, well, well. But they're not doing well," he said.

"You can see what's going on over there, France again, Spain, Italy. We're fine. We just don't get any recognition for it."

In fact, with around 330 million people and more than 230,000 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths, the United States is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic.

The European alliance Euromomo currently assumes around 223,000 people have died from the virus in the countries that provide data.

Around 448 million people currently live in the European Union.

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fek / dpa