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Washington Since Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump is in Europe. Shortly before leaving Washington and just after landing in Brussels, he made it clear that he did not want to use the days just for friendly handshake photos. In short: Trump wants to let him crack, he leaves no doubt about it.
"I have NATO on the sidelines, and Britain and Putin … Frankly, Putin could be the easiest part of the program," said Trump shortly before joining Air Force One . He ceded on Twitter, linking the transatlantic trade dispute to the dispute over defense spending.
"The EU prevents farmers, workers and businesses from doing business in Europe," said the US president. "And then they want us to protect them at NATO and pay well, it does not work!"
Aggressive tones are reminiscent of the scandal surrounding the G7 summit in June, when Trump left the meeting prematurely and later canceled the final declaration. Then he sat down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and praised him. Now, European heads of state and government are afraid of a similar scenario: they are being abused by Trump and he is joining soon after Russia.
The US president will attend the NATO summit in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, then travel to the UK and finally meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday.
Trump is alert Every step of his tour puts two goals in the forefront: torpedoing multilateral institutions and changing the global order so that he benefits the most.
Station 1: The NATO Summit in Brussels
Parts of the US government, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, emphasize the cohesion of the Western military alliance – particularly in the face terrorist threats, cyberattacks and the problems of Syria. and Afghanistan. Kay Bailey Hutchison, US Ambassador to NATO, stressed: "The main theme of this summit will be the strength and unity of NATO."
However, the American president does not want to know it publicly. The fact that Europe – and Germany in particular – exploits the United States in trade and defense in his opinion, condemns the American president more and more violent. "They kill us in trade policy, and they kill us in NATO, they kill us," Trump shouted on a field stage.
He can restrain his rhetoric when he is surrounded by heads of state and government instead of encouraging his followers. Nevertheless, he will blame America's closest allies, especially Germany, for not spending enough money on defense and armaments.
In the worst case, Trump might suggest that he supports his alliance with NATO through individual defense spending. wants to make dependent. It could also feed the trade dispute with punitive tariffs by specifying the imminent tariffs of US imports on cars.
Trump's main interest: He wants to be perceived at home as a strong man, who mixes circles of state leaders and regulates things. In any case, he will complain personally that all NATO countries have gradually increased their defense spending. If it will be enough for him as a message of success will be demonstrated by his behavior at the top.
The Second Station: Travel Through Great Britain
This Trump does not value too much diplomatic politeness, he also alluded to Britain. Until now, he has not been able to talk about the current government crisis with British Prime Minister Theresa May, he said shortly before departure. But Foreign Minister resigned Boris Johnson was "a friend of mine," enthused Trump. "Maybe I'll talk to him when I'm there."
Of course, Trump will also meet May on the spot, and he will also visit the Queen. This is the first official visit of the US President to the UK. He will focus here on highlighting the strong links and exploring how the United States can continue to benefit economically from Britain after Brexit.
The United States and Great Britain are close, industrial, military, cultural or intelligence partners. Thus, the United Kingdom is the largest consumer of American goods and services in Europe. Trump continues to talk about how he would like to have a bilateral trade agreement with Britain. The theme of economic relations should be the focus of the visit, Trump wants to signal stability here to predict the weather after Brexit.
The 3rd Station: Meeting with Putin in Helsinki
Trump diplomacy works through large gestures, in this category we can also classify the meeting with the Russian president. On the other hand, the EU and NATO should be skeptical about the meeting. For the rest of the West still does not know if he can count on Trump in terms of Russia.
The US government sends extremely contradictory signals: Once Washington bursts Moscow as a nuclear enemy of the millennium, dozens of Russian diplomats expelled and condemns the role of Russia in the Syrian conflict. Once again, Trump denies Russian influence in the US election campaign and ignores human rights violations.
Trump again shows in Helsinki that he prefers to govern world politics personally rather than exhausting multinational compromises. And Putin, more and more isolated, can talk with Trump, the negotiator. In the short term, the meeting offers Trump and Putin the possibility of a win-win situation.
A clear line, which exactly wants to reach the President of the United States in the discussion with Putin, can not however be read in his political decisions of the past.
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