If Trump Wins the Election, Nothing Is Salvageable

Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 7 June 2020
by Markus Decker (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Sandra Alexander. Edited by Margaret McIntyre.
What U.S. President Donald Trump is carrying out with regard to Germany no longer has anything to do with the good trans-Atlantic partnership of yore. If he wins reelection, there will be nothing left to salvage.

The style is — as expressed in a German military idiom “unter aller Kanone” — beneath contempt. President Donald Trump has evidently ordered a reduction in the number of American soldiers in Germany without providing official notice to Germany. The vassal has to accept this.

A partial withdrawal is of no major importance for German security. The event is still alarming, as it demonstrates a continued disintegration of German-American relations. There is controversy over the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the announced withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, dealings with Iran and the level of military expenditure. With increasing regularity, the Trump administration expects blind allegiance. With increasing regularity, the German federal government is no longer willing to offer it — which the man in the White House counters with renewed wrath. This no longer has anything to do with partnership.

Were Trump to win the election in November, the alliance would no longer be salvageable. Were he to lose, a new beginning would be conceivable in the spirit of relief.


Mit der guten transatlantischen Partnerschaft von einst hat das, was US-Präsident Donald Trump gegenüber Deutschland vollführt, nichts mehr zu tun. Gewinnt er die Wahl, ist wohl nichts mehr zu retten.
Der Stil ist – um es militärisch zu formulieren – „unter aller Kanone“. US-Präsident Donald Trump weist offenbar an, die Zahl der Soldaten in Deutschland zu reduzieren, ohne dass die deutsche Seite offiziell davon erfährt. Der Vasall hat das hinzunehmen.
Für die deutsche Sicherheit hätte der Teilabzug keine große Bedeutung. Alarmierend ist der Vorgang trotzdem. Er zeigt eine fortgesetzte Zerrüttung des deutsch-amerikanischen Verhältnisses an. Gestritten wird über den Rückzug der USA aus dem INF-Vertrag über nukleare Mittelstreckenwaffen, den angekündigten Rückzug aus dem Open-Skies-Vertrag, den Umgang mit dem Iran und die Höhe der Militärausgaben. Immer öfter erwartet die Trump-Administration blinde Gefolgschaft. Immer seltener ist die Bundesregierung dazu bereit – was der Mann im Weißen Haus mit neuem Zorn quittiert. Mit Partnerschaft hat das alles nichts mehr zu tun.
Sollte Trump die Wahl im November gewinnen, wäre das Bündnis wohl nicht mehr zu retten. Sollte er sie verlieren, wäre ein Neuanfang im Geiste der Erleichterung denkbar.
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