Rift Between Trump and Europe Is Now Open and Angry

MUNICH — European leaders have long been alarmed that President Trump’s words and Twitter messages could undo a trans-Atlantic alliance that had grown stronger over seven decades. They had clung to the hope that those ties would bear up under the strain.

But in the last few days of a prestigious annual security conference in Munich, the rift between Europe and the Trump administration became open, angry and concrete, diplomats and analysts say.

A senior German official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on such matters, shrugged his shoulders and said: “No one any longer believes that Trump cares about the views or interests of the allies. It’s broken.”

View the complete February 17 article by Steven Erlanger and Katrin Bennhold on The New York times website here.

As ‘Fire and Fury’ is published, Europe openly debates: ‘Is Trump still sane?’

The following article by Rick Noack was posted on the Washington Post website January 6, 2018:

French President Emmanuel Macron with President Trump in Paris on July 14. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)

BERLIN — European commentary on President Trump is rarely flattering, but the cascading revelations alleged in Michael Wolff’s tell-all book “Fire and Fury,” drew an especially fierce response from a horrified continent this week.

“Is Trump still sane?” asked the Friday lead headline on the site of Germany’s most respected conservative paper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The piece was published under the topic “mental health.”

Meanwhile, British readers woke up to the Times of London’s main front page headline that also wondered about the president’s stability: “Trump’s mental health questioned by top aide.” Continue reading “As ‘Fire and Fury’ is published, Europe openly debates: ‘Is Trump still sane?’”