“Let her speak for Germany” – Trump responds to Merkel criticism over North Korea
“Trump responds to every threat with a counter-threat,” complains German weekly Der Spiegel
U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s advice on how to handle the North Korean crisis. “Let her speak for Germany,” Trump told reporters yesterday referring to the statement made by Merkel earlier in the day. “She’s a very good friend of mine,” Trump said. “Maybe she’s referring to Germany, she’s certainly not referring to the United States.”
Merkel had criticised Trump’s recent statements aimed at North Korean regime, saying, “I consider a verbal escalation to be the wrong response.”
“Trump reacts to Merkel rebuke with a clear message,” reported the leading German daily Die Welt. The country’s state-run broadcaster Deutsche Welle came to Merkel’s defense, complaining, peace-loving German Chancellor “advocate[s] an international diplomatic response” and “Trump ignores Merkel’s pleas against violence.”
Germany’s most-read newspaper Die Welt reported the latest exchange between Trump and Merkel:
US President Donald Trump won’t be showing much interest to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s warning against the escalation in North Korean crisis. “Let her speak for Germany,” Trump said on Friday.
Earlier, Merkel had warned against the use of military, and made it clear that Germany would only be engaged itself non-militarily. “I see no military solution to the conflict,” Merkel said in Berlin on Friday. And reacting to the question if Germany would stand with the US in the case of a war, she replied that she doesn’t consider it “necessary”.
She criticised the sharp rhetoric in the North Korean crisis. “I am convinced that the escalation of language would not lead to the solution of the conflict,” She added in light of ever increasing threats from both sides. [Translation by author]
“President Trump’s “fire and fury” tirade against the regime of Kim Jong Un has escalated tensions with North Korea,” commented Der Spiegel in its international edition. “Seldom has that threat been as great as it is right now, given that nuclear warheads now exist on both sides of the Pacific, representing an existential threat to each end. On the one side, you have in Trump an unrestrained and unfocused Twitter tycoon who has achieved very little during his first 200 days in office. On the other side, you have North Korea’s dictator, a man for whom shill war cries are merely a staged show of power.”
Martin Schulz, a long-time EU official and Merkel’s socialist rival in the next month’s general elections lamented that Trump “far worse” than expected. “Trump is a risk to his country and the entire world.”
Ironically, Schulz doesn’t consider Merkel’s open doors policy for illegal migrants a risk: “Frau Merkel has taken a clear stand, [and] I share it,” Schulz said at the onset of the Migrant Crisis two years ago.
Germany’s leading current affairs magazine Der Spiegel was surprised to see the current US President responding in kind to North Korean provocations “In the past, most U.S. presidents have put up with this kind of saber rattling. But not Trump, who responds to just about every threat with a counterthreat,” the German weekly wrote.
After eight of Obama’s leading-from-behind Foreign Policy, Merkel and the EU are having a tough time adjusting to the new leadership style that Trump has brought to Washington.
Video: Merkel rejects the ‘use of force’ in North Korea
[Cover image via YouTube]
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Since Germany is not withing target range of Kim’s little nukes, she should just sit down and shut up. History has shown time and time again that the Chamberlain approach to foreign threats isn’t very productive of anything except emboldening the threateners.
There was a lot of talk from Merkel after Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. How did that work out?
In hindsight, maybe decimating her country’s energy sector by forcing Green energy on it wasn’t very wise. It gave Putin a lot of power over Germany.
But at least nobody got their feelings hurt! (not counting the Ukrainians)
Crimea and Eastern Ukraine are occupied by Ukrainian refugees of Obama/Merkel’s backed coup in Kiev.
Merkel, the German Rosie O’Donnell.
MMMMkay. So the German newspapers seems to be as short on direct quotes and long on their own opinion as the US newspapers. DJT’s response to what the Germans characterize as “rebuke” suggests to me that she actually said something much milder and more sensible.
It would have been nice to see the video, but it’s been taken down, allegedly based on copyright issues, even though this is clearly a fair use.
.. she may be onto something… send refugees into North Korea…. cargo planes & boats full…
more likely the other way around.
Mutti Merkel…Germany’s public enemy number one.
Talk is the only weapon Europe has and they are willing to use it at a moment’s notice!
Do they send sternly-worded letters?
If North Korea fires missiles at the US or its allies in Asia, which side do you think the German government will be on? If Germany wants to avoid being entangled with all the nasty Western warmongers, they are perfectly free to withdraw from NATO. For that matter, if we withdrew and created a new alliance with the few European countries that are semi-friendly to us, it would be a good thing.
agre – remember all the cries and woes when DJT said put up or shut up ?
Why does the U.S. still have soldiers stationed in Germany?
To avoid having WWIII start in Germany. Same for Japan.
US military servicemembers and their families are the only large group of people in the US that have any experience at all in living under a different system. This reservoir of people with a slightly-more-expanded view of the world is invaluable.
There are continuing family and business relationships that have developed over time, allowing insight and good will with our former enemies. These are good ties to have, especially in our world that is full of surprises.
Also, the notion of re-arming either Germany or Japan, which would be the inevitable result of withdrawing US forces, it not a good idea. One only need look at what is developing within the EU to know that either or both nation would do it again.
Wherefore art thou all you lefties screaming about a foreign leader meddling in the internal affairs of the United States government. No need to answer, but I leave this all for you. What right wing war monger said this and when?
FDR
In the past, most U.S. presidents have put up with this kind of saber rattling
When it’s mere saber-rattling, it’s just noise, and can be safely ignored.
But when Lil’ Kim has nukes, the days of safely ignoring him are over.
And therein lies the difference. The first doesn’t merit a response; the President would be derelict in his duties if he ignored the second.
… representing an existential threat to each end.
Personally, I don’t think there’s any danger. I don’t believe Lil’ Kim has anything much. A couple of bombs does not a modern nuclear power make. And, since the sole value of nukes as defense lies in the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction, the Norks aren’t in the running. (That doesn’t mean the problem goes away in perpetuity; in a few years they might be more formidable, after their arsenal is up to a couple of thousand deliverable warheads.) If the Chinese are daffy enough to back the Norks, that could be a problem. But there’s little sign that they’re terribly interested in going that far out on a limb to support someone who’s convenient, but far from essential.
But that’s my personal guess. The President can’t be so cavalier in discounting a sworn enemy’s capabilities.
problem is that the NORKs and the 12th enders are working together –
remember Israel is the small satan and america is the big satan.
the MooSlimes ‘love death more than you love life’.
and i say give ’em what thye love most – and good riddance.
“When it’s mere saber-rattling, it’s just noise, and can be safely ignored.
But when Lil’ Kim has nukes, the days of safely ignoring him are over.”
No, it couldn’t be safely ignored before the malignant fat little runt got nukes. It wasn’t just saber-rattling and it wasn’t just noise during the three previous administrations.
Because the Kim regime was clearly pursuing the capability. I blame Clinton for making a deal with Kim Jong-il that was obviously designed to pay the dictator off so he could kick the can down the road and let another administration deal with it when the NORKs cheated and got the nukes anyway. He turned a blind eye to the fact he negotiated with the NORKs in such a way that ensured they would get nukes and associated delivery systems.
Bush was ineffectual. He didn’t turn a blind eye to the fact that the NORKs had restarted their enrichment activities. And Billy Jeff and others in their administration knew it, too, as it restarted when they were in office. So he killed the agreed framework by 2003. But Bush listened to the “experts” at DoS and he therefore kept up the empty talk.
But the worst offender was Obama. After Kim Jong-un took over the family business in 2011 when his father died he conducted more ballistic missile (I’m not counting all missile test launches such as anti-ship as they aren’t strategic) and more nuclear tests than his father and grandfather combined. Worse, he then signed a nearly identical copy of the guaranteed-to-fail agreement with Iran as Billy Jeff signed with the NORKs.
Yes, I know Kim Il-Sung didn’t conduct any nuclear tests. But he did start building the NORK rocket and ballistic missile R&D and production infrastructure in the 1960s and did conduct SRBM flight tests of their indigenously produced reverse-engineered but slightly improved version of the SCUD-B called the Hwasong-5. From that SRBM derived and produced an improved version called the Hwasong-6 although NATO gave it the name SCUD-C. It resembled the Russian missile of the same designation but it was not derived from the Russian SCUD-C. The NORKs designed developed and produced the MRBM NoDong-1 in the late eighties and early nineties, which was also flight tested during Kim Il-Sung’s reign.
The NORKs have a ways to go before they develop a credible threat to the west coast of the US. For instance, here’s a video of an NHK camera mounted in a city on the island of Hokkaido recording the Hwasong-14 reentry vehicle descending into the Sea of Japan.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/northkorea_provocation/embed/northkorea_provocation_movie_185.html
From the map that NHK embeds in their video it looks like their camera is mounted somewhere in the township of Noboribetsu. That means it is looking across the hilly Oshima peninsula so you don’t actually see the reentry vehicle hit the sea, just disappear behind the hills. The curvature of the earth would prevent you from seeing the reentry vehicle hit the water anyway as it’s much farther away than it may appear. The fact that the reentry vehicle is glowing red hot isn’t the fatal flaw. If you watch carefully you’ll see it start breaking up, pieces flying off, then it goes dark just before it disappears from view. That means it it was destroyed and had it been carrying a warhead that would have been destroyed as well.
People are freaking out because they’re being told this ICBM has the range to hit Chicago, may even NYC. Well yeah, this missile did fly farther than the 4 July launch. But what they clearly did was experiment with a lighter reentry vehicle. Reducing the payload is the only way they could have increased the range. The smaller, lighter reentry vehicle flying that far will have to withstand a faster, hotter reentry and it failed. Moreover, they may have miniaturized a warhead but not enough to fit into that reentry vehicle. And the weight matters as much or more than size. A heavier payload naturally reduces range. And a nuclear warhead is a very precise instrument and it’s difficult to believe that they’ve built one that can withstand the shock and vibration of an ICBM launch.
The Hwasong-14 is a two stage missile. They really need a three stage missile if they want to threaten the east coast and most importantly Washington DC. But they probably don’t have confidence in their stage separation mechanisms. Those really have to be tested in flight. So in the near future a missile that only has one stage separation mechanism is going to be more reliable than a missile that requires two. So it’s not yet time to panic. But…
The very bad news is if they settle for a heavier payload (warhead and more robust reentry vehicle) on a two stage ICBM they no doubt could hit Alaska or Oahu. They might even be able to hit Anchorage or Honolulu on a good day. In a couple of years, if we keep letting them practice the way Obama let them practice, they will be able to hit California. At the rate they’re going they’ll work out the bugs. Ballistic missile development and production under Kim Il-Sung advanced at a faster pace in the 1980s than anyone thought it would. Most analysts insisted that the Nodong-1 had to be based on some experimental Soviet design that never went into production but it wasn’t. The same thing is going on now. Their ballistic missile and nuclear programs are advancing at a much faster rate than anyone predicted when I was in.
They’re not stupid; when they put their minds to something they’ll get it done. Even if that means letting their people starve. Look at their hacking capabilities. They’re top notch.
Also, I estimate they have around 60 nuclear devices and they’ll have 100 by 2020 if not earlier. That’s not nothing. Most of those won’t fit on top of a missile but they will fit into a shipping container and go anywhere in the world.
Long post but a good summary. I recommend that people read it.
It’s the “shipping container” option that makes the state of their missile program a false reassurance and a distraction.
Weird article, ignorant of everything Trump has accomplished in his first 200 days, and despite Deep State, Democrats, Republicans and MSM handicapping them.
Merkel baby, speak for Germany. You are not a Global Player, you are merely a Regional Power who will soon submit to Islam. And were aren’t coming to rescue you.
But here are 100,000 North Korean war refugees to add to your welfare rolls. Enjoy.
“A failure of imagination”.
We will never forget 9-11 they said. But they have forgotten.
I guess we can console ourselves witb the recognition that the Blue City States are priority targets. If you love LA, I advise one last trip to see it while you can. San Fran too.
“No danger”
Butterfly effects.
NO -> Iran -> Israel. Just off the top of my head.
NK not NO, stupid smart phone.
The first the Germans did was get a commitment from Trump about NATO against Russia and past that they think don’t give a rat$ a$$ about talking tough to defend any other allies like South Korea and Japan.
They are starting to disgust me with thinking defending Germany from threats is good and everything else destabilizes the world for them. Pretty damn selfish.
Strange. She speaks as if any adults in the world asked for her opinion.
When the chips are down, they’ll be making excuses and wagging fingers.
The real question is, how is Putin going to screw with us on flipping the NORKS.