• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Merkel meets Trump on March 14: 'Can She Bring Him to Reason?'

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

chadskin

Member
Just in: German Chancellor Merkel has postponed her visit to the White House because of snow, rescheduled for Friday.
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/philiprucker/status/841345791490961408

-------------

http://www.spiegel.de/international...ficult-visit-with-donald-trump-a-1138244.html

The two couldn't be more different. On the one side is an unsophisticated yet self-absorbed political neophyte who has made it clear that there is nothing he won't sacrifice to achieve what he sees as America's interests. On the other is one of the most experienced leaders in the world, one who many see as being the last defender of democracy and Western values -- a view that Merkel herself considers to be a dangerous misjudgment given the limits of German power. Indeed, she calls it "absurd."

The task at hand could hardly be more important. Trump is not only the most powerful man in the world. He has also shown that he cares nothing about the rules of Western political game. His plans could rupture the European Union and weaken Germany economically.
Click to expand...
But sources close to Merkel are certain about one thing: The chancellor will seek to establish a good relationship with the president. Trump relies less on the traditional mechanism of politics than his predecessors and he often makes decisions impulsively, without regard to well-established procedures.

"Trump's actions are driven more by his instincts and business experience than by political rationality," says Norbert Röttgen, the foreign policy spokesman for Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He traveled to Washington a few weeks ago for talks. "That doesn't make dealing with him any easier."

Merkel doesn't want to rely on a charm offensive alone. She's also prepared to stand her ground on some issues, especially trade policy. The chancellor will be accompanied on her trip by Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser and BMW head Harald Krüger according to an agreement she reached with US Vice President Mike Pence at the Munich Security Conference in February.

Kaeser and Krüger are to explain to Trump how many jobs and training positions their companies create in the United States. The president has greater trust in executives than politicians and Merkel is hoping that Trump will listen to the heads of two blue chip Germany companies.
Click to expand...
In terms of foreign policy, Merkel is said to be less pessimistic than she had been right after Trump's election. Thus far, the president hasn't moved to implement his most radical demands. The nuclear deal with Iran is still in place and the idea of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been delayed for now.

The clarity with which U.S. representatives at the Munich Security Conference in February expressed their support for NATO also calmed some of the worst fears. Officials in Berlin believe that Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will lean much more toward pragmatic realpolitik than initially feared.

In addition, Trump's new National Security Adviser Herbert Raymond McMaster is regarded in Berlin as being much more calculable and well-informed than his addled predecessor Michael Flynn, who was forced to step down because of his misrepresentation of contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States prior to the election.

During a video call with McMaster, Merkel's foreign policy adviser Christoph Heusgen's impression was of a man firmly rooted in traditional Republican foreign policy and that McMaster is someone Germany can work well with.
Click to expand...
She also plans to explain the tenets of the European Union to the president. Officials in Berlin say that a person who found it surprising after the election that the promises he made about U.S. health care policy would be difficult to implement may have some catching up to do on other issues as well.
Click to expand...
Even though there is cautious optimism in the Chancellery about foreign policy, Merkel and her staff are preparing for the worst when it comes to trade. Even as vague as they may still be, Trump's plans could become the greatest threat to the global economy since the financial crisis, with Germany standing directly in the firing line.

Almost 50 percent of all jobs in Germany are dependent on exports. The Americans alone last year purchased 107 billion euros worth of German goods, whereas only 57 billion worth of U.S. goods got imported to Germany. The country would suffer severely if the U.S. started a trade war with Europe or China.

In order to assuage Trump, Merkel is deploying a dual strategy. In addition to her charm offensive, she also wants to send the message that, if push comes to shove, she has a nastier side as well.

On the one hand, Merkel wants to emphasize in the meeting the significant degree to which the Americans also benefit from good trans-Atlantic relations. German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries put together a package of data for the chancellor following a meeting with trade associations last week. It shows that one-third of German foreign investment flows into the United States. It also shows that German car companies now manufacture more automobiles in the country than they export to it from Germany.

But what happens in the likely event that Trump sticks to his "America First" plans? If that happens, then Merkel is expected to push for a united EU front to blockade Washington.
Click to expand...
Merkel is hoping things won't get that bad. Her trip would already be considered a success if she were able to find a reasonable basis for discussion with the U.S. president. At the same time, Merkel is up for re-election in September and she will also have to keep voters in Germany in mind. She can't alienate the new president, but it also wouldn't play well domestically if she allowed herself to be treated as a supplicant the way British Prime Minister Theresa May recently did during her visit with Trump.

The fact that a discussion in the Chancellery is even necessary regarding how far the chancellor can go in her criticism of Trump's violations of Western values and principles is in itself indicative how the situation has changed. In the past, these were the kinds of considerations that Merkel's staff made prior to trips to Russia or China. Now it's the government in Washington, once one of Germany's closest partners, that worries the government in Berlin. "In terms of international policy," Merkel adviser Röttgen says, the U.S. has now become an "element of uncertainty of a structural nature."
Click to expand...
 
I

iRAWRasaurus

Banned
Let me predict the future. Trump will say it was a very productive meeting and agrees with whatever Merkel says. Merkel will say he listens and was nice. Then when the meeting is over and they are back in their country, Trump will talk shit.
 
A

adj_noun

Member
The good news is all she has to do is compliment him and he'll be eating out of her hand.

The bad news is that'll only last until he gets near a TV or one of his Wormtongue stand-ins.

The crazy news is we have to treat the President like a spoiled child.
 
Ascenion

Ascenion

Member
You said Trump and reason in the same sentence. That's bad on it's own, but then you said reason referring to Trump. That's just wrong.
 
S

Sidewinder

Member
iRAWRasaurus said:
Let me predict the future. Trump will say it was a very productive meeting and agrees with whatever Merkel says. Merkel will say he listens and was nice. Then when the meeting is over and they are back in their country, Trump will talk shit.
Click to expand...

I'm going with this too.
 
S

Steel

Banned
iRAWRasaurus said:
Let me predict the future. Trump will say it was a very productive meeting and agrees with whatever Merkel says. Merkel will say he listens and was nice. Then when the meeting is over and they are back in their country, Trump will talk shit.
Click to expand...

Wow, a true prophet.
 
G

Gin-Shiio

Member
iRAWRasaurus said:
Let me predict the future. Trump will say it was a very productive meeting and agrees with whatever Merkel says. Merkel will say he listens and was nice. Then when the meeting is over and they are back in their country, Trump will talk shit.
Click to expand...

IywcVhR.gif
 
S

Sulik2

Member
Unless she has Russia's blackmail material there is no bringing Trump to reason. This is who he is and the rest of the world should be rightfully terrified of the USA falling into civil war over a forming authoritarian government.
 
I

Ithil

Member
"Hello....*consults flash card* Angela Merket, we will have good deals and relations, the best deals, between the US and *consults flash card* Angela Merket. Wait, *consults other flash card*...Germany. The best deals."

We had a great meeting.
 
S

Shadybiz

Member
iRAWRasaurus said:
Let me predict the future. Trump will say it was a very productive meeting and agrees with whatever Merkel says. Merkel will say he listens and was nice. Then when the meeting is over and they are back in their country, Trump will talk shit.
Click to expand...

No lies detected...I believe you are 100% correct.

Slayven said:
LOL dude talked mad shit about Mexico, went there and was cucked
Click to expand...

Also correct. He failed miserably (hilariously) at "Baby's first diplomatic outing" ....this won't be any different.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Is she going to be holding a loaded gun to his head for the next 4 years? Then no I don't think Angela Merkel can bring Trump to reason.
 
S

Slayven

Member
I think the sane world leaders will ignore the USA and build new relationships. The UK and The USA are going to get left behind socially and economically.
 
M

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
Bringing the business men with her is a smart move.

What she really needs is some dumb thing he can post to Twitter, like "BMW will hire people because of me!", eventhough its some old plan they had forever.

gutter_trash said:
why doesn't Merkel bring down Trump by exposing his tax evading scheme from Deutsche Bank?
Click to expand...
"What's a Deutsche Bank? Never heard of it" - Merkel, probably.
 
K

Karsticles

Member
Trump is not without reason. It's just not a reason a lot of us agree with.

Arguing with him now is like trying to argue with your grandparents.
 
B

BoogieWoogie

Banned
Like nearly every other person who's met with Trump so far, he'll tell her exactly what she wants to hear, proceed to do nothing and/or actively fuck her over, she'll get pissed, and the whole thing will start all over again with some other poor sap who didn't take notes from the dozens of times this has already happened.
 
V

Volimar

Member
I'm a little worried that Trump will infect her with whatever brain eating parasite it is that is infesting him.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Ancient Roman figures brought to life via AI
Science 2 3
100
6K
Dirk Benedict replied
Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision, Interested in Buying Tik-Tok
2 3
143
7K
Gameplay Gods Bless replied
These bugs come out at nighttime, and attacking victims, they silently kill or leave them with a lifelong infection
33
3K
Happosai replied
LGBTQ community trying to cancel Jodie Comer, because she might have a boyfriend irl & upset she’s not actually a lesbian
Drama Cringe
44
7K
lock2k replied
Germany used to be a champion of open borders in Europe. Not anymore.
2
72
5K
cryptoadam replied
Top Bottom