Angela Merkel and Donald Trump: There was no political friendship between them.
Ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder made this clear in an interview.
The relationship between
Angela Merkel
and
Donald Trump
was, to put it mildly, not exactly good.
In terms of content, there were a lot of disagreements, and
the ex-president made clear
his attitude towards
Germany
more often.
Former Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder
has now complained about Trump's behavior.
Washington, DC -
Chancellor Angela Merkel
(CDU) has visited the United States and visited the White House several times in her almost 16-year tenure.
However, under
ex-President Donald Trump
, the German-American relationship cooled significantly.
During his tenure, Trump managed to break the Queen's royal protocol, unceremoniously push high-ranking politicians aside in order to push forward, to sit in front of heads of state and government with arms crossed and defensive.
He was also
not always friendly
with
Merkel
: during her visit in 2017, she sought eye contact in vain during a press conference in the President's office and asked for a handshake for the photos.
But
Trump
gave her the cold shoulder and grinned.
But not only the gestures often spoke against a good relationship.
The content also went downhill: tariffs on products from the EU, the withdrawal from important international forums, the withdrawal of signatures under summit resolutions from the aircraft.
+
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and US President Donald Trump in the White House in 2017: She is denied the handshake.
© Michael Kappeler / dpa
Trump's behavior towards Merkel: "That was underground"
Donald Trump was and is quite unpredictable.
A challenge for a chancellor who thinks soberly and analytically.
But her predecessor
Gerhard Schröder
(SPD) is now protecting her.
"How he treated Chancellor Merkel was underground," said Schröder in an interview with
t-online
.
Trump showed "a pronounced aversion to the European Union and especially to
Germany
".
“That was unacceptable,” summarizes Schröder.
“An American president cannot do that.
By behaving so hurtfully towards the Chancellor, Trump also treated Germany disrespectfully. "
Close, former employees of Trump also noticed
that Trump and Merkel were not on the same wavelength as
Obama
and the Chancellor.
Last year,
John Bolton
, temporarily National Security Advisor, said in an
interview with
Spiegel
: "Trump's relationship with Merkel - and that with former British Prime Minister Theresa May - is certainly one of the most problematic that I have seen."
Ex-Chancellor Schröder: When it comes to Iran, the new US President has to show courage
In the
Chancellery
, the joy was certainly great when it became clear that
Joe Biden would be
the new
US President
.
Even with him not everything will be the same as it used to be, but Biden places much more emphasis on the transatlantic relationship.
Schröder believes that Biden has to
prove,
especially on the
Iran issue
, that he “has courage in foreign policy”.
Schröder explains in more detail: “In contrast to Donald Trump, he should recognize that not everything in the nuclear deal with Iran was bad.
There are two relevant goals: First, we must ensure that nuclear armament does not take place in Iran.
Second, the US and Iran have to find a civilized relationship with each other again. "
It
is well known
that Schröder is a friend of
Russia
.
He works as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of
Nord Stream AG
.
He
describes
his relationship with
Vladimir Putin
as a "personal friendship".
He
is also questioned about
the poisoning of
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny
.
Schröder says there is still no tangible evidence that Putin covered up or even ordered the assassination attempt.
“What do you expect from me?
Does friendship always presuppose that one has to agree to everything that the other does?
No.
But you don't criticize a friend in public, but in a personal conversation. "
(Cibo)
