This is why sometimes you just really should cut the cord.
As you can see there is no little amount of bias, no small amount of revisionist history either....
https://www.theatlantic.com/internat...ermany/528429/
Trump's Trip Was a Catastrophe for U.S.-Europe Relations
Angela Merkel has served formal notice that she will lead the German wandering away from the American alliance.
For many in London and Paris, Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand very much included, the quip was no joke. Much of the present malfunctioning architecture of the European Union—including the lethal euro currency—originated in French demands for reassurance that reunification would lead to “a European Germany, not a German Europe.”
Without the United States, German reunification would never have proceeded so smoothly or rapidly. That assistance is still gratefully remembered in Germany. But gratitude cuts only so much ice in international relations. When the U.S. tried to mobilize the European powers to manage the breakup of Yugoslavia, Germany balked at the risk. But it was the George W. Bush-Gerhard Schroeder split over the Iraq war in 2003 that definitively ended German deference to American leadership.
(Trust me, as a been there done that kind of Guy in Germany, they've forgotten and get really irritated when you politely remind them
Polls show that German confidence in the United States, already lowered under Obama, has collapsed under Trump (And my IDGAF level is about pegged. Why are we worried about what the Average German thinks about our POTUS?) to a level barely better than Putin’s Russia. Facing elections in the fall—and reassured that she has gained a congenial partner in France’s President Macron—Merkel has served formal notice that she will lead the German wandering away from the American alliance. (BTW this always wortks out well for the French) In a speech before 2,000 people on Sunday, she declared that Europe cannot at this time rely on the U.S. and the U.K. “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I've experienced that in the last few days,” she said. “We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.” Notice that she said “Europeans,” not Germans. Notice too that she did not rule out that Europe might rely on the U.S. and U.K. in the future: The door is not closed. But the old order has passed.
So you might ask why would she bite the hand that has protected Europe and especially Germany for so long
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/29/politi...ope/index.html
"The times when we could completely rely on others are, to an extent, over," Merkel said at a beer hall(!) rally to support her campaign.
While Merkel made no mention of Trump specifically, she made clear that her realization had come "in the last few days" -- a time period which overlapped with a G7 meeting in which Trump blasted America's traditional European allies over NATO obligations and made clear that he was more than willing to go it alone on climate change and trade.
What Trump's words -- and Merkel's reaction -- reveal is something that sharp foreign policy minds have known since the start of Trump's campaign: His true potential for drastic change exists in the foreign policy sphere.
Trump's ubiquitous "Make America Great Again" slogan was interpreted by many of his followers as the idea that we would make America great again by slaying political correctness, by bringing back jobs, by keeping undocumented workers from entering our country, from showing the mainstream media who's boss. It was re-making our daily life right here in the good, old U-S-of-A that people were focused on.
But "Make America Great Again," from the inception of Trump's campaign, always had at least one foot in not only re-imagining America's role in the world community but in reshaping the world community entirely.
Again, so why so drastic an change, why so emboldened to call foul on Trump and American/German international relations?
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump...many-eu-2017-4
President Trump did not understand that the US cannot negotiate a trade deal with Germany alone and must deal with the European Union as a bloc, a senior German official told The Times of London.
"Ten times Trump asked [German chancellor Angela Merkel] if he could negotiate a trade deal with Germany. Every time she replied, 'You can’t do a trade deal with Germany, only the EU,'" the official said.
They continued: "On the eleventh refusal, Trump finally got the message, 'Oh, we’ll do a deal with Europe then.'"
Merkel reportedly told her cabinet members that Trump had "very basic misunderstandings" on the "fundamentals" of the EU and trade.
The exchange occurred when Merkel met with Trump last month and reportedly convinced him to negotiate with the EU as a bloc after attempts by his administration to deal with individual countries were declined.
Okay Boys, here it comes.....
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...ing-visit.html
President Trump pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel “hard” on NATO dues during the leaders’ Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News is told – a point the president underscored during their joint press conference minutes later.
“Many nations owe vast sums of money from past years, and it is very unfair to the United States,” Trump said at the press conference, discussing the need for NATO allies to pay “their fair share” for defense. “These nations must pay what they owe.”
He then thanked Merkel, who was standing beside him, for Germany’s apparent commitment to increase defense spending and work toward contributing 2 percent of GDP to NATO.
According to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting, the comments came after Trump privately pressed Merkel during their discussion to increase NATO spending. While NATO already has asked members to invest 2 percent of their GDP, Germany has fallen under that line.
The joint press conference was amicable, despite Trump’s blunt criticism of the German leader during his presidential campaign.
In a nod to that history and other ongoing disagreements, Merkel said it is “much better to talk to one another than about one another.”
Interesting point, there were never two National Leaders more different than Trump and Merkle.
Germany and Germans seem to want all of the benefits of NATO Membership, but pay nothing for that luxury. When caught on it Angela Merkle gets a bit snippy and threatens to take her toys and go home. (BTW you might want to research some of the "help" the Germans have given us over the last few years militarily.)
The tone of the authors of the above articles seems rather anti-Trump, but to be honest, the Media is infected with Socialist Progressives with an anti American agenda.
Here we have a Nationalist President who promotes his own countries best interests. He wants to save the Tax Payers money by enforcing the rules of the NATO Charter. He attempts to negotiate individual trade agreements that would allow him to use these agreements to negotiate/leverage better trade deals with other countries. Then there is always the specter of immigration, we all can see the clear difference.
I will just say, of the two, I clearly trust Trump much more. When Merkle has some problems militarily, well she can always train and arm her new islamic germans....
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Originally Posted by Pilot1
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