Germany’s ambassador to the United States has expressed concern about Donald Trump’s “revenge plans.” He judged that his program could undermine American democracy, in a very alarmist confidential document revealed on Sunday by the daily “Bild”. These words from Andreas Michaelis are contained in a diplomatic telegram sent Tuesday to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. He denounces in particular the “maximum disruption strategy” of the new American president to “redefine the constitutional order” of his country.
Contacted by AFP, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not wish to comment on “principle” what concerns “internal documents, analyzes or embassy reports”. Departing from the usual diplomatic codes, Michaelis sees in Trump, in the confidential internal document, a man driven by “desires for revenge”, believing that he could move towards a “maximum concentration of powers” to the detriment of Congress and the Federated States. The German ambassador judges that the fundamental democratic principles of the United States could be “largely undermined” by this practice of power.
The leak of this telegram comes at a bad time for Berlin in that it is this 65-year-old ambassador who is to represent the German government on Monday during the inauguration of the new American head of state. In his analysis, he is also concerned about threats of “mass deportations” of foreigners and the control of judicial investigations, with Trump seeking to place allies in key positions, according to him. He is also concerned about the desire, in his eyes, of Trump and his ally Elon Musk to want to restrict freedom of expression and limit the rights of minorities.
The German Foreign Ministry sought to downplay the press leak, saying the United States “is one of our most important allies.” It will be a question of maintaining “close collaboration with the new American administration in the interest of Germany and Europe,” he adds. It will be necessary “to work well with each American government, but the first signs we have are not encouraging,” agreed the co-president of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Lars Klingbeil, in an interview also on Saturday with “Bild”. “We are reaching out to Donald Trump” but “it must be clear, if he refuses it, we will have to be strong and defend our interests,” he added.
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