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US President Donald Trump assumes that many countries want to see him lose in Tuesday’s US elections, including Germany. “China wants to get rid of me. Iran wants to get rid of me. Germany wants to get rid of me,” Trump said during a campaign appearance in Reading in the US state of Pennsylvania.
In the past four years, Trump has put his foreign policy under the slogan “America first” and has deliberately offended traditional allies in Europe on several occasions. In particular, the German-American relationship deteriorated significantly during his tenure.
A recurring theme of controversy was Germany’s military spending, which Trump believes is too low. As a consequence, he announced the withdrawal of about a third of the US soldiers stationed in Germany.
In next Tuesday’s election, Trump is running for a second term. His Democratic challenger Joe Biden is committed to multilateral cooperation. He was vice president for eight years under former President Barack Obama, making him a familiar face to America’s longtime allies and partners.
Trump questions Europe’s handling of Corona
With a view to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump also questioned the effectiveness of strict daily restrictions and the handling of the coronavirus in Europe.
“The explosive cases in Europe have shown that the draconian, that is, draconian, blockades are not stopping the virus,” the Republican said at a campaign rally in Newton, Pennsylvania. “Italy was locked in and now it’s starting again.”
Without giving any data to back up his claims, Trump said excess mortality in the United States is significantly lower in Europe. “And Europe did a good job, it is something very brutal. Everyone thought that Germany is doing well, well, well, well. But it is not doing well,” he said. “You can see what’s going on there, France again, Spain, Italy. We’re fine. We just don’t get any credit for it.”
In fact, with around 330 million people and more than 230,000 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths, the United States is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. The European Euromomo alliance currently assumes that around 223,000 people have died from the virus in the countries that provide data. Around 448 million people currently live in the European Union.
