Donald Trump Was Right Back in 2018 When He Pointed the Finger at Germany’s Energy Policy With Russia.
The Germans laughed at him.
As the limits of the German model are being exposed with the energy crisis resulting from Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, a 2018 speech by Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly is resurfacing on social networks.
The former U.S. president, who has often been mocked for his international speeches, pointed to Germany's dependence on Russian gas. The German delegation, present at the event, laughed at him. The symbol of a conciliatory German policy with Moscow that has collapsed.
“Germany will become dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course,” warned Donald Trump. “Here in the Western Hemisphere, we are determined to maintain our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers.”
Germany's then foreign minister, Heiko Maas, seemed to fall off his chair and smiled at his colleagues. You can see on his face all the disdain he has for the former US president:
This was not the first time Donald Trump had attacked Germany's energy policy, and more specifically the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. At a NATO summit two months earlier, in July 2018, the Republican had not minced his words alongside Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg:
“Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia when we are supposed to be hedging against Russia ... and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia.”
The American president, who saw American foreign policy through the prism of business, was enraged to see that Germany was going to be dependent on Russian natural gas for nearly 70% of its needs:
“We protect Germany, we protect France, we protect all these countries. And then many of these countries enter into a pipeline agreement with Russia and pour billions of dollars into Russia's coffers. Germany will have almost 70% of its country's natural gas controlled by Russia. Tell me, is this appropriate?”
I was never soft on Donald Trump and his policies when he was in the White House. I think that many of his decisions promoted the weakening of America on a global level, which allowed Vladimir Putin to advance his plan to finally invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
However, it must be noted that Donald Trump was clear-sighted about the problem that would represent for Germany, and other European countries, its total dependence on Russian hydrocarbons:
“Germany is prey to Russia. They got rid of their coal plants, they got rid of their nuclear, and they are so dependent on Russia for their oil and gas. I think that's something that NATO needs to look at. It's very inappropriate.”
It's always easier to remake history after the fact. But the record and reputation of Germany's previously exemplary former chancellor, Angela Merkel, have been seriously undermined.
Germany, but also other countries, has opted for dialogue with Moscow and the interdependence of their respective economies. A choice that has not paid off in terms of controlling Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin's expansionist policy. The current war in Ukraine started not on February 24, 2022, as many believe, but 8 years earlier, when Putin annexed Crimea without any reaction other than indignation from the West.
What happened next clearly shows that Europeans have been wrong all these years by underestimating the madness of Vladimir Putin. From now on, it is time to take the measure of the dictator of the Kremlin and not to let go of the support to Ukraine, because to give in once to Putin's blackmail would be to send him the worst message.
That of a weak Europe that will let Putin advance as he pleases by using force. After Ukraine, likely, Putin would then be tempted to go further into Europe. Fighting Putin today is a necessity because if it is not done today, it will happen sooner or later.
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