In recent days Donald Trump had been ruffling even more feathers than usual. He has posted on Truth Social a map of the entirety of North America emblazoned with the U.S. flag, claimed to have been pulled from the rubble of the Twin Towers on 9/11, when he went with 100 of his construction workers to help out even though it has been proven he was elsewhere and later he commented to the media that he now has the tallest building in New York. Not only is it insensitive but also factually wrong. Don't even get me started on the Falkland Islands! Additionally it appears that he has threatened to "turn off" the water at Niagra Falls, but this last one seems to be spurious and some have even claimed it to be satire. Not buying that, but not believing it either.
Meanwhile in Europe another spat has erupted as a result of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz canceling his scheduled phone call with US President Donald Trump yesterday. This came about after Trump publicly celebrated a landslide regional election win by Germany's far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
While the German government did not officially state a reason for the cancellation, officials emphasised that it was not due to a scheduling conflict. The decision is widely understood to be a direct response to Trump's social media post, which Berlin viewed as unacceptable foreign interference in domestic German politics.
The Context Behind the Snub
- Trump’s Post: Following the AfD’s historic victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, Trump praised the "Populist Party" on Truth Social. He blamed Germany's "horrible immigration rules" and concluded his post with the abbreviation "MGGA"—standing for "Make Germany Great Again". This bears a significant similarity not only to MAGA, but also to the idealism behind Hitlerite propaganda.
- German Government Resentment: Prior to the cancellation, Chancellor Merz publicly warned the US government to "stay out of these partisan considerations" and let German domestic politics remain internal. Other senior members of the German coalition government openly condemned Trump’s comments as unacceptable interference.
- Domestic Pressures: The cancellation coincided with a fierce debate in the German parliament (Bundestag). Following his party's bruising defeat to the AfD, Merz used his speech to fiercely condemn the far-right group, accusing their mass-deportation ("remigration") platform of being a euphemism for ethnic cleansing and having lived in the former Yugoslavia I have seen what this means when fully implemented.
A new date for the phone call between the two leaders has not yet been scheduled and Trump should be ostracised until he learns how to behave.
Maybe Trump should just simply come out with his brown shirt, with a red armband on it with a certain insignia set against a white circle - at least then he will be being honest with the rest of the world
