For Angela Merkel, the wakeup call came in the middle of the night. ... The German chancellor was asleep in her government plane somewhere over the Atlantic in June last year when Donald Trump scuttled the fragile settlement she’d built with other Group of Seven leaders in Canada, according to a person familiar with the events. ... Before turning in for the night, she’d been in a buoyant mood due to the concessions she secured from the U.S. president for a common statement on trade. When he went back on his word, she was stunned.
Almost 12 months on, the situation has only gotten worse. There’s a mix of anguish and frustration in Berlin and officials are asking themselves whether the relationship has already crossed the point of no return.
Even if Trump loses in 2020, they say the trust that underpinned the transatlantic friendship for seven decades may be gone for good. ... Germany has already started building new alliances that will safeguard its interests in a world where the U.S. won’t. And some of them are not to Washington’s liking.
I hope that the author’s wrong and that, post-Trump, America will be able to repair the damage that’s been done. Alienating the country that’s the economic powerhouse of Europe cannot be a viable long-term strategy.
