German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has expressed his opposition to US President Donald Trump’s policies. “President Trump and his government will hold the world in suspense in the coming years in energy and climate policy, trade policy, and foreign and security policy” Scholz said on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We can and will navigate around all of this. Without unnecessary excitement and outrage, but also without fawning or echo-chambering.”
In a world that is “permanently on the brink of a nervous breakdown” due to social media, calm heads are needed. “Not every press conference in Washington, not every tweet should immediately plunge us into frantic, existential debates.” The United States is Germany’s closest ally outside of Europe. “And I will do everything to ensure that it remains so, because it is in our mutual interest. Because the close cooperation between Europe and the US is essential for peace and security worldwide.”
President Trump says “America First” and means it, Scholz explained. “It’s not wrong to have one’s own country’s interests in mind. We all do that” the Chancellor said. “Only, it is the case that cooperation and understanding with others often lie in one’s own interest as well.”
Insulation comes at a cost of prosperity. “We will defend the free trade as the basis of our prosperity, together with other partners” the SPD politician declared. “Europe relies on free, fair global trade. And we are not alone in this.