- President Donald Trump’s phone conversations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel were “so unusual” that German officials had to keep them a secret, CNN reported Monday.
- Sources told CNN that Trump looked down on Merkel in a “very aggressive” way, calling her “stupid” and accusing her of “being in the pocket of the Russians.”
- “It is the hardest [in the phone calls] that he considers weak and weaker that he should be tough with, “a source told CNN.
- Although extraordinary measures were taken in response to Trump’s talks with Merkel, the German chancellor took the comments of the President of the United States “like water from the back of a duck,” a source told CNN.
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German authorities were so alarmed by President Donald Trump’s “very aggressive” talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel that they kept their calls secret, sources told CNN.
In calls with the German chancellor, Trump would have harassed and belittled Merkel in an “almost sadistic” way, according to the CNN report by Carl Bernstein, a longtime journalist known to report on the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post.
“Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are incredible: he called her ‘stupid’ and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians,” the sources told CNN. “… It is the hardest [in the phone calls] with those whom he considers weak and weaker with whom he should be tough. “
The group of officials assigned to monitor Merkel’s calls with Trump also decreased in size, leaving “only a small circle of people involved and the reason, the main reason, is that they are really problematic,” a German official told CNN.
The official added that the talks between Trump and Merkel were deemed “so unusual” that additional steps were taken to keep the calls secret.
Although extraordinary measures were taken in response to Trump’s talks with Merkel, the German chancellor took the comments of the President of the United States “like water from the back of a duck,” a source told CNN, and she responded to his derogatory comments. when declaring facts.
“President Trump is a world-class negotiator who has consistently promoted the interests of the United States on the world stage,” White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews said in a statement to Business Insider, in response to the report by CNN. “Since negotiating the China-USMCA phase one agreement with NATO allies that contributed the most and defeated ISIS, President Trump has demonstrated his ability to advance the strategic interests of the United States.”
Trump’s behavior also spread to other women world leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Theresa May. The behavior of the President of the United States was described as “humiliating and intimidating” to May, after he called her “dumb” when it came to public and foreign policy decisions, a source told CNN.
“He was upset about something with Theresa May, then he got nasty to her on the phone call,” said a source. “It is the same interaction in all environments, coronavirus or Brexit, without applying any filter.”
