I realize that all of our attention is focused on Covid, China and domestic racial relations at the moment, but every once in a while, we have to stop to examine something that our president is doing on the world stage that will have lasting negative impact. By unilaterally ordering the withdrawal of 9,500 American troops from Germany, without any negotiations or official notification to Angela Merkel’s government, Trump is undermining U.S.-German relations, which are the very heart of NATO and the very heart of trans-Atlantic peace and stability. I am primarily an Asianist but I have spent a lot of time in Germany and believe that maintaining Germany’s trust, and vice versa, is important globally. When the United States and Germany drift apart, that creates the fissures that lead to world wars. And how could the United States ever build a global coalition to resist China’s new assertiveness if we have alienated Germany?
Trump apparently is taking this action to punish Merkel, because she said she would not come to a meeting of the Group of 7 nations that Trump is supposed to host in Washington. She is declining because Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin even though he is still occupying Crimea and even though Russian actors continue to fan the flames of U.S. animosities on social media.
Withdrawing troops from Germany is, of course, a major win for Putin. He has long sought to split the U.S. from NATO and the European Union, so that he can apply greater pressure on their societies and their systems.
There has got to be a reason why Trump is poking Germany in the nose but rewarding Russia, which continues to demonstrate its complete disdain for the United States on a global basis. Does he actually appreciate Russia’s help in winning the 2016 election? There may not have been any active collusion but Trump publically called for the Russians to release any damaging emails they had regarding Hillary Clinton. The leaks started later that day. Something very rotten is happening.
