{"id":128605,"date":"2024-11-22T01:06:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T18:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128605"},"modified":"2024-11-22T01:06:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T18:06:20","slug":"merkel-i-mistook-trump-for-someone-completely-normal-angela-merkel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128605","title":{"rendered":"Merkel: I mistook Trump for \u2018someone completely normal\u2019 | Angela Merkel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Angela Merkel\u2019s first mistake with Donald Trump, she says in her keenly awaited new memoir, was treating him as if he were \u201ccompletely normal\u201d, but she quickly learned of his \u201cemotional\u201d nature and soft spot for authoritarians and tyrants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">In extracts from her more than 700-page tome, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/may\/13\/angela-merkel-memoirs-freedom-to-be-published-in-november\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Freedom<\/a>, published in the German weekly Die Zeit, the former German chancellor says she initially misread Trump during their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2017\/mar\/17\/trump-merkel-white-house-trade-refugees-wiretapping\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">first meeting in 2017<\/a> in the Oval Office, where he attempted to humiliate her by refusing to shake her hand before the cameras.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cInstead of stoically bearing it, I whispered to him that we should shake hands again,\u201d she writes. \u201cAs soon as the words left my mouth, I shook my head at myself. How could I forget that Trump knew precisely what he was doing \u2026 He wanted to give people something to talk about with his behaviour, while I had acted as though I were having a conversation with someone completely normal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The book, which Merkel has been working on since she left office in 2021, has been kept under close wraps ahead of its publication date next Tuesday. It covers her upbringing in communist East Germany, her unlikely rise within the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and her 16 years in power in which she became known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/angela-merkel-still-the-queen-of-europe\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">queen of Europe<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/ecfr.eu\/article\/commentary_is_merkel_the_new_leader_of_the_free_world_7190\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">\u201cleader of the free world\u201d<\/a> \u2013 a label once used exclusively for US presidents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Now unbound by diplomatic niceties, Merkel sizes up Trump as \u201cemotional\u201d and driven by grievance and neediness, in contrast to her \u201cfactual\u201d approach. \u201cIt seemed that his main aim was to make the person he was talking to feel guilty \u2026 At the same time I had the impression \u2026 that he also wanted the person he was talking with to like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Rather than trying to build bridges with traditional allies, Merkel writes, \u201cTrump was apparently fascinated with the Russian president\u201d, and she notes that \u201cpoliticians with autocratic and dictatorial traits had him in their thrall\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">On the flight home after their first talks, a deflated Merkel concluded that Trump \u201clooked at everything like the real estate developer he was before he entered politics\u201d \u2013 as a zero-sum game. \u201cFor him, all countries were rivals in which the success of one meant the failure of another. He didn\u2019t think that prosperity could be increased for all through cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Only weeks later, Trump informed her that the US would leave the Paris climate accord \u2013 a crushing setback on which she sought the advice of Pope Francis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cWithout naming names, I asked him how he would approach fundamentally opposed opinions within a group of important personalities,\u201d she writes. \u201cHe understood immediately and said simply: \u2018Bend, bend, bend, but make sure it doesn\u2019t break.\u2019 I like this image.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The contentious relationship with Merkel seems to have haunted Trump, who was still speaking about her on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anews.com.tr\/world\/2024\/11\/03\/trump-says-the-germans-didnt-love-me\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">campaign trail<\/a> three years after she left office. \u201cThey [the Germans] didn\u2019t love me because I said you gotta pay,\u201d he told a rally in Pennsylvania this month, apparently referring to defence spending within Nato. \u201cI said to Angela: Angela, you haven\u2019t paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Merkel notes that Trump targeted her and Germany in his successful 2016 campaign, claiming that her welcoming in of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/sep\/15\/angela-merkel-defends-germanys-handling-of-refugee-influx\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">more than 1 million refugees<\/a> in 2015 and 2016 had \u201cruined\u201d the country and accusing Berlin of unfair trade policies and free-riding on US military investment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">In what she admits will be a belated endorsement, written before this month\u2019s US election, Merkel declares: \u201cI wish with all my heart that Kamala Harris \u2026 defeats her competitor and becomes president.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">History also had other plans for Vladimir Putin, another figure still shaping the world in her absence. Although Merkel, a fluent Russian speaker, found him to be manipulative and vindictive, she concedes that the Russian president had a few valid arguments in his notorious <a href=\"http:\/\/en.kremlin.ru\/events\/president\/transcripts\/24034\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">anti-western diatribe<\/a> at the 2007 Munich security conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThere were some points that I did not regard as completely absurd. As we know, there was never any evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq,\u201d she writes, referring to the US justification for regime change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cI too had criticised the fact that there had been no progress on updating the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/live\/2023\/nov\/07\/russia-ukraine-war-gennadiy-chastiakov-putin-zelenskiy\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe<\/a> (CFE)\u201d, which \u201cshould have been adapted after the dissolution of the Warsaw pact, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the accession of eastern European countries to Nato\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.NewsletterSignupBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-15\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"newsletter promotion\" class=\"dcr-av5vqf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-10et71f\">\n<p class=\"dcr-rsfwa\">Sign up to <span>This is Europe<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1xjndtj\">The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans \u2013 from identity to economics to the environment<\/p>\n<p><gu-island name=\"SecureSignup\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"visible\" props=\"{&quot;newsletterId&quot;:&quot;this-is-europe&quot;,&quot;successDescription&quot;:&quot;The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans \u2013 from identity to economics to the environment&quot;}\"\/><span class=\"dcr-1eusqlu\"><strong>Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/help\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/span><\/aside>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-15\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Merkel chides eastern European leaders in particular for in her view pretending that their giant neighbour could simply be sidelined. \u201cYou could find all of this childish and reprehensible, you could shake your head. But it wouldn\u2019t make Russia disappear from the map.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"8c817005-442e-48ff-a13b-3b5c971bb12f\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:17,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Angela Merkel chooses privacy over publicity as she celebrates turning 70&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;8c817005-442e-48ff-a13b-3b5c971bb12f&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/jul\/17\/angela-merkel-chooses-privacy-over-publicity-as-she-celebrates-turning-70&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:0}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Merkel indicates that Putin\u2019s fear Kyiv could join Nato after she left office helped pave the way for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Without specifying when he made the comments, Merkel says Putin had told her: \u201cYou won\u2019t be chancellor for ever. And then they\u2019ll be a Nato member. And I want to prevent that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Merkel left office still popular with a majority of Germans but her legacy has been tarnished by accusations that she failed to face up to Moscow\u2019s aggressive intentions against Ukraine while making her own country too <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jun\/02\/germany-dependence-russian-energy-gas-oil-nord-stream\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reliant on Russian gas<\/a>. Critics also apportion blame for the rise of the far-right Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland party to Merkel\u2019s liberal asylum policy a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">She has largely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/jul\/17\/angela-merkel-chooses-privacy-over-publicity-as-she-celebrates-turning-70\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">remained out of the spotlight<\/a> since stepping down as chancellor but will be making a series of appearances in Germany and abroad in the coming weeks to promote the book.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\"><em>Freedom by Angela Merkel (Pan Macmillan, \u00a335). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.guardianbookshop.com\/freedom-9781035020751\/?utm_source=editoriallink&amp;utm_medium=merch&amp;utm_campaign=article\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">guardianbookshop.com<\/a>. Delivery charges may apply.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2024\/nov\/21\/angela-merkel-i-mistook-donald-trump-for-someone-completely-normal\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Angela Merkel\u2019s first mistake with Donald Trump, she says in her keenly awaited new memoir, was treating him as if he were \u201ccompletely normal\u201d, but she quickly learned of his &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128605\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}