“The transatlantic relationship that we have known until now is disintegrating,” he added.
Such direct criticism contrasts with the approach of Merz, who has taken a far more cautious approach to Trump of late in an effort to avoid a rupture with Washington.
With regard to Greenland, Merz has said that the U.S. president has legitimate security concerns that NATO should address in order to achieve a “mutually acceptable solution.” While other EU governments strongly criticized the Trump administration following the capture of Maduro, Merz was restrained, calling the matter legally “complex.”
Behind Klingbeil’s more strident criticism of Trump, there’s a clear political calculus. The vice chancellor — who also serves as finance minister — is a leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which governs in coalition with Merz’s conservative bloc and has seen its popularity stagnate. Attacking Trump more forcefully may be one way for the party to improve its fortunes.
Polls show most Germans strongly oppose Trump’s actions in Venezuela and his rhetoric on Greenland, and views of the U.S. government more generally are at a nadir. Only 15 percent of Germans consider the U.S. to be a trustworthy partner, according to the benchmark ARD Deutschlandtrend survey released last week, a record low.
This underscores the political risk for Merz as he seeks to avoid direct confrontation with an American president deeply unpopular with the German electorate. But Merz has calculated that keeping open channels of communication with the U.S. president is far more critical.