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Who called Trump an idiot for his criticism of German energy policy? He's not even the first US president to criticize German reliance on Russian gas--both Obam

Who called Trump an idiot for his criticism of German energy policy? He's not even the first US president to criticize German reliance on Russian gas--both Obama and Bush before him were critics of it. And there's been a lot of criticism even within Europe about the policy. By the time you get to Nord Stream 2, basically even not named Germany or Russia was screaming at the top of their lungs "this is a bad idea" (and Poland, not the US, being the loudest of all). I will grant you that Trump did get this right... but it was by no means a policy that he was an architect of, and the degree to which he was invested in this policy was questionable (US sanctions were driven largely by Congress, not the president).

oaiey 4y ago
The problem was also, that everyone had secondary motives in that conversation. Poland and Ukraine earned money by passing gas through from Russia, the US and UK sell LNG and oil and would benefit from it. And do not forget, Germany is historically twice in the situation to keep the balance between east and west. Once after WWII and once in 1990 after the reunification. pumping money into Russia was also part of a global appeasement politics. That geopolitical game is well understood. As a German, that is what I remember of that screaming. And now, some months in, we still have no clear statement who blew up the pipelines. This whole pipeline game is far more complex than just "bad reliance of Germany from Russia"
Natsu 4y ago
> Who called Trump an idiot for his criticism of German energy policy? You're right that this was a pretty easy call made by tons of people for a very long time before & after Trump. Also, GP is a little off, they didn't actually call him an 'idiot', they just smirked and said that they knew better: Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/25/trump-accused-germany-becoming-totally-dependent-russian-energy-un-germans-just-smirked/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/25/trump-accuse... > German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas could be seen smirking alongside his colleagues. ... > Trump’s attacks haven’t changed that calculus. After his July remarks, Merkel responded that she may be in a better position to judge her country’s dependence than the current U.S. president. > “I’ve experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union, and I’m very happy today that we are united in freedom,” she said at the time.
- pgeorgi 4y ago
  When Trump says "we are committed to maintaining our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers", I'd be smirking, too. (and check the videos: they only started laughing once he got past that sentence)

oaiey 4y ago

The problem was also, that everyone had secondary motives in that conversation. Poland and Ukraine earned money by passing gas through from Russia, the US and UK sell LNG and oil and would benefit from it. And do not forget, Germany is historically twice in the situation to keep the balance between east and west. Once after WWII and once in 1990 after the reunification. pumping money into Russia was also part of a global appeasement politics. That geopolitical game is well understood. As a German, that is what I remember of that screaming. And now, some months in, we still have no clear statement who blew up the pipelines. This whole pipeline game is far more complex than just "bad reliance of Germany from Russia"

Natsu 4y ago

> Who called Trump an idiot for his criticism of German energy policy? You're right that this was a pretty easy call made by tons of people for a very long time before & after Trump. Also, GP is a little off, they didn't actually call him an 'idiot', they just smirked and said that they knew better: Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/25/trump-accused-germany-becoming-totally-dependent-russian-energy-un-germans-just-smirked/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/25/trump-accuse... > German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas could be seen smirking alongside his colleagues. ... > Trump’s attacks haven’t changed that calculus. After his July remarks, Merkel responded that she may be in a better position to judge her country’s dependence than the current U.S. president. > “I’ve experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union, and I’m very happy today that we are united in freedom,” she said at the time.

pgeorgi 4y ago
When Trump says "we are committed to maintaining our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers", I'd be smirking, too. (and check the videos: they only started laughing once he got past that sentence)