Research indicates Germans do not favour another Trump presidency

Germany would be happy to see Trump’s back Donald trump’s election as the president of the USA has not augured well for Germany. The two developed countries have been at loggerheads over issues such as Germany’s rising allocation to the defence sector. Germany has not been violating the limit (2% GDP) agreed with NATO though.

Another issue has been the FRG’s trade surplus with the US. Another major issue is the Nordstream 2 pipeline, which will allow double the supply of Russian gas to Europe through Germany. BBC has highlighted this in its report.

The Kennedy Platz in Berlin symbolises the bilateral ties. Some six decades ago in the capital of now-unified Germany, Kennedy had said those famous words: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) amidst cheers. Circumstances have changed since. The incumbent US president does not want to carry forward the legacy.

An elderly Berliner, who was a kid then, said, "For my generation - born after the second world war - Americans were a great example of freedom and democracy. That's ended with Trump."

In fact, German Chancellor Angela Merkel never approved of Trump's politics. She has freely expressed her displeasure over Trump’s stance towards Nato, the US walking out of the Paris agreement on climate change, and his decision about the nuclear deal with Iran.

Hence, the US President has not been popular with the Germans. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that most Germans do not favour Trump.

Merkel does not enjoy the rapport she had with Barack Obama. The German government has found it hard to maintain similar co-operation with Team Trump.

"The four years of the Trump presidency have meant that everything, very fundamentally, has been called into question. The very existence of Nato, the predictability of US foreign policy. It has been a disruption which we haven't seen since World War Two," said Christoph, a soccer player from Berlin.   He is among many Berlin citizens who think that another term for Trump would damage the bilateral relationship.

"We are concerned. I'm totally convinced that the prospect of another four years would not only mean that we're going to see more of the same, but I'm quite certain we would see an acceleration of everything we've experienced.

"Because then President Trump would not be under the pressure to be re-elected. He would be unshackled."

Trump has targeted Germany by criticising it frequently, which has not gone down well with people in Berlin. Germany has been a long-standing friend, military as well as a trading ally.

Trump withdrew the US troops from Germany indicating the deteriorating ties between the two allies.

Former German ambassador to US Wolfgang Ischinger, who heads the Munich security conference said the presence of US troops in Europe is significant, irrespective of where they are located. However, that "regretfully, trust has been lost over this issue".

Ischinger said Joe Biden’s foreign policy advisor has promised that Biden would review the troop withdrawal would restore "some kind of transatlantic paradise". Differences over major issues such as Russia, China and climate change, would not change.

"The difficulties we've experienced in the last three and a half years have indeed served as a useful wake-up call for Germany to begin to reflect about its own responsibilities," he said. Germany would be happy to see Trump’s back as Donald trump’s election as the president of the USA has not augured well for Germany. The two developed countries have been at loggerheads over issues such as Germany’s rising allocation to the defence sector. Germany has not been violating the limit (2% GDP) agreed with NATO though.

Another issue has been the FRG’s trade surplus with the US. Another major issue is the Nordstream 2 pipeline, which will allow double the supply of Russian gas to Europe through Germany. BBC has highlighted this in its report.

The Kennedy Platz in Berlin symbolises the bilateral ties. Some six decades ago in the capital of now-unified Germany, Kennedy had said those famous words: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) amidst cheers. Circumstances have changed since. The incumbent US president does not want to carry forward the legacy.

An elderly Berliner, who was a kid then, said, "For my generation - born after the second world war - Americans were a great example of freedom and democracy. That's ended with Trump."

In fact, German Chancellor Angela Merkel never approved of Trump's politics. She has freely expressed her displeasure over Trump’s stance towards Nato, the US walking out of the Paris agreement on climate change, and his decision about the nuclear deal with Iran.

Hence, the US President has not been popular with the Germans. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that most Germans do not favour Trump.

Merkel does not enjoy the rapport she had with Barack Obama. The German government has found it hard to maintain similar co-operation with Team Trump.

"The four years of the Trump presidency have meant that everything, very fundamentally, has been called into question. The very existence of Nato, the predictability of US foreign policy. It has been a disruption which we haven't seen since World War Two," said Christoph, a soccer player from Berlin.   He is among many Berlin citizens who think that another term for Trump would damage the bilateral relationship.

"We are concerned. I'm totally convinced that the prospect of another four years would not only mean that we're going to see more of the same, but I'm quite certain we would see an acceleration of everything we've experienced.

"Because then President Trump would not be under the pressure to be re-elected. He would be unshackled."

Trump has targeted Germany by criticising it frequently, which has not gone down well with people in Berlin. Germany has been a long-standing friend, military as well as a trading ally.

Trump withdrew the US troops from Germany indicating the deteriorating ties between the two allies.

Former German ambassador to US Wolfgang Ischinger, who heads the Munich security conference said the presence of US troops in Europe is significant, irrespective of where they are located. However, that "regretfully, trust has been lost over this issue".

Ischinger said Joe Biden’s foreign policy advisor has promised that Biden would review the troop withdrawal would restore "some kind of transatlantic paradise". Differences over major issues such as Russia, China and climate change, would not change.

"The difficulties we've experienced in the last three and a half years have indeed served as a useful wake-up call for Germany to begin to reflect about its own responsibilities," he said.