Chaos before Donald Trump Takes Office
Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 20 December 2024
by Andreas Schwarzkopf (link to
original)
Future U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporter Elon Musk have demonstrated in the negotiations about the budget that they don’t want to consider anyone else in pursuing their goals.
The chaos surrounding the U.S. budget and looming shutdown is a preview of the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. He and his supporters, like Elon Musk, will not consider anyone else in pursuing their political goals*. And if they don’t reach their goal, as in Musk’s case with the budget, they just claim that others are to blame. Trump’s fans will believe it, as always.
Musk’s interference in the German parliamentary elections demonstrates how very little they care about conventions. The billionaire is supporting not only the Alternative for Germany, which has some right-wing extremist elements, but also the far-right British Member of Parliament Nigel Farage.
Everyone who is hoping that they will manage to get along with Trump should take warning. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz could also still get a taste of that. After his telephone call with Trump regarding the war in Ukraine, he had spoken optimistically about collaboration. It’s possible that Trump still remembers it. He may not. Germany and the other EU nation-states need to expect the worst.
*Editor's Note: The government shutdown was averted on Dec. 21, when President Joe Biden signed a stopgap funding bill passed by Congress on Dec. 20.
The chaos surrounding the U.S. budget and looming shutdown is a preview of the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. He and his supporters, like Elon Musk, will not consider anyone else in pursuing their political goals*. And if they don’t reach their goal, as in Musk’s case with the budget, they just claim that others are to blame. Trump’s fans will believe it, as always.
Musk’s interference in the German parliamentary elections demonstrates how very little they care about conventions. The billionaire is supporting not only the Alternative for Germany, which has some right-wing extremist elements, but also the far-right British Member of Parliament Nigel Farage.
Everyone who is hoping that they will manage to get along with Trump should take warning. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz could also still get a taste of that. After his telephone call with Trump regarding the war in Ukraine, he had spoken optimistically about collaboration. It’s possible that Trump still remembers it. He may not. Germany and the other EU nation-states need to expect the worst.
*Editor's Note: The government shutdown was averted on Dec. 21, when President Joe Biden signed a stopgap funding bill passed by Congress on Dec. 20.
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