German Foreign Minister: “We Can No Longer Completely Rely on the White House”

On Monday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Europe could not fully rely on the Trump administration. Maas’ comments come after Trump recently referred to the European Union as “a foe.”

Mass spoke to the Funke newspaper group about Germany’s relationship with Trump:

We can no longer completely rely on the White House. To maintain our partnership with the USA we must readjust it. The first clear consequence can only be that we need to align ourselves even more closely in Europe. “Europe must not let itself be divided however sharp the verbal attacks and absurd the tweets may be.

The comment follows Trump’s Sunday interview with CBS News in which he referred to the EU as one of America’s biggest “foes.” In the interview, CBS’s Jeff Glor asked Trump, “Who’s your biggest competitor, your biggest foe globally right now?” Trump answered:

Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe. Russia is foe [sic] in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they are competitive.

Spoken like a person who just learned the word “foe.” In case you missed the “absurd” tweets Maas referred to above, here is a recap of that drama: First, Trump attempted to use Germany as a distraction during the family separations at the U.S. southern border.

The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018

Despite Trump’s efforts to point fingers at Germany while he locked migrant children in cages, all of his claims were revealed to be false, misleading or in need of more context. Trump has also recently attacked the EU as a whole over the past few months, including Twitter rants such as this one:

Why isn’t the European Union and Canada informing the public that for years they have used massive Trade Tariffs and non-monetary Trade Barriers against the U.S. Totally unfair to our farmers, workers & companies. Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2018

Last week, Trump met with British Prime Minister Theresa May and informed her she should “sue the EU” instead of finishing the current negotiations with the EU. So, after all of Trump’s recent attempts to attack the Germany and the EU, it appears Germany has finally had enough.