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German foreign minister criticizes Trump's 'America first' foreign policy
Yahoo News ^ | 04/28/2016 | Reuters via Yahoo

Posted on 04/28/2016 10:36:09 AM PDT by Rusty0604

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday criticized U.S. Republican front-runner Donald Trump for a speech in which he said it would be "America first" if he were elected president.

Trump said on Wednesday that if elected, his foreign policy would leave European and Asian allies of the U.S. fending for themselves if they did not pay more for U.S. defense measures.

"I can only hope that the election campaign in the USA does not lack the perception of reality," Steinmeier said.

"The world's security architecture has changed and it is no longer based on two pillars alone. It cannot be conducted unilaterally," he said, referring to Trump's "America first" message.

Steinmeier said international conflicts could only be solved nowadays if heavyweights like the United States and Russia and others joined forces.

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Germany
KEYWORDS: berlin; steinmeier; thelionsden; trump
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To: Rusty0604

Germans are afraid to think for themselves, they’ll be lost without some tinpot dictator in DC directing their actions.


61 posted on 04/28/2016 11:17:09 AM PDT by thoughtomator
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To: Mollypitcher1

“German soldiers don’t fight, they are only “peacekeepers”.”

Good point. Since WW2 their constitution prohibits the German military from fighting offensive wars outside Germany. WW2 is 70 years ago. They use the constitution to avoid spilling their blood as they would much prefer Americans and Brits at the tip of the spear doing the heavy lifting while they serve as doughnut dollies in the rear.I personally think Trump should press NATO for a requirement that any nation that is legally prohibited from fighting offensive wars will no longer be permitted membership in NATO.


62 posted on 04/28/2016 11:18:04 AM PDT by chuckee
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To: Jim Robinson

LOL...I thought that was the North Koreans????


63 posted on 04/28/2016 11:18:34 AM PDT by JBW1949
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To: LS

To be fair, the Germans can’t really be blamed for WWI. Everybody in the run up to that one was incredibly stupid.


64 posted on 04/28/2016 11:20:12 AM PDT by Tailback
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To: JBW1949

Steinmeier, you idiot!

(In my best General Burkhalter German accent!)


65 posted on 04/28/2016 11:20:12 AM PDT by Batman11 ( All Muslims are not terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslim!)
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To: Rusty0604
Steinmeier is one of those original European Obama worshippers from 2008 and was quoted in a German newspaper article that referred to Obama as the new Dalai Lama. This is a summary of the article from the Center for Strategic and International Studies website.
Obama is “The New Dalai Lama”

In a column in the Süddeutschen Zeitung, one of Germany's leading dailies, the German Marshall Fund’s Constanze Stelzenmüller discusses Barack Obama’s popularity among German politicians and the German population in general. She writes that Obama’s popularity in Germany has reached levels that domestic politicians can only dream of and is comparable only to that of figures such as the highly popular Dalai Lama. The headline uses wordplay, Der Dalai Obama (The Dalai Obama).

Obama’s popularity in Germany was confirmed in a recent survey for the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, which showed that Obama has the support of 67 percent of Germans against six percent for John McCain. This was the biggest gap in support among the six countries surveyed.

German politicians have also openly expressed admiration for Obama. According to Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Germany’s Social Democratic Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a reference to Obama by using the phrase “yes, we can,” in a talk on repairing transatlantic relations during a recent lecture at Harvard. Stelzenmüller attributes the popularity of Obama in Germany to his foreign policy, notably his promises to send more troops to Afghanistan, open diplomatic talks with Iran, conduct a more active diplomatic effort in the wider Middle East, and assume more security responsibilities in Kosovo. [Emphasis added]

It is much the same story in Scandinavia. In Denmark, a February poll among members of the Danish Parliament found that a majority favored Obama over McCain and that Obama would win both the democratic nomination and the presidency if Danish politicians were the ones to decide. In Norway, a similar poll in January found that 67 out of 84 members of parliament who expressed a preference would vote for a Democratic candidate. In Sweden, center-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has publicly endorsed Obama.
(Source: http://csis.org/blog/obama-"-new-dalai-lama")


66 posted on 04/28/2016 11:20:50 AM PDT by Dahoser (Separation of church and state? No, we need separation of media and state.)
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To: Jim Robinson

That’s right, LOL.


67 posted on 04/28/2016 11:24:04 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: vikingrinn; All
Let us just hope to God that one of PRESIDENT Trump's first orders of business is to clean out and destroy that nest of vipers that is the U.N.! Get them OUT of the U.S. and get the U.S. OUT of the U.N.! I can hardly think of a single more destructive (to our sovereignty and freedom) entity since the end of the war than the U.N.
68 posted on 04/28/2016 11:26:32 AM PDT by notdownwidems (Washington DC has become the enemy of free people everywhere)
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To: chuckee

Didn’t Trump say Japan should have the right to have nuclear weapons and defend itself? You’re right, a lot has changed since WW2.


69 posted on 04/28/2016 11:27:31 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: Jim Robinson

LOL couldn’t resist. :>0


70 posted on 04/28/2016 11:29:29 AM PDT by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
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To: Rusty0604

Germany ? was there a country by that name ?


71 posted on 04/28/2016 11:31:05 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Tailback

“To be fair, the Germans can’t really be blamed for WWI. Everybody in the run up to that one was incredibly stupid.”

So true. Heck Russia was so ready for the outbreak that they must have been planning on starting it themselves. No one believed Russia could get their army to the field so quickly, but they had already deployed them.

Historians will tell you that Germany was always paranoid of being encircled.... but what they fail to teach you is that they were born encircled.

Germany gets a bad rap for WWI, partly due to thier actions, but mostly due to the actions of another man 20 years later.....


72 posted on 04/28/2016 11:34:00 AM PDT by walkingdead (It's easy, you just don't lead 'em as much....)
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To: notdownwidems

+1000


73 posted on 04/28/2016 11:35:15 AM PDT by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
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To: JBW1949

chuckle. Germany has been invaded by 7th century characters, no manners, no humanity, only brute force, and Steinmeier is crying about Trump not knowing anything? He says world conflicts can be worked out with ONLY HEAVYWEIGHTS? Where are the EU heavyweights now, when the 7th century two-legged animals are taking over their countries?


74 posted on 04/28/2016 11:36:23 AM PDT by tillacum
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To: Rusty0604

Wir don’t care, Herr Steinmeier. Auf Wiedersehen.


75 posted on 04/28/2016 11:38:05 AM PDT by quesney
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To: Rusty0604

Thanks Rusty.

More great reasons to vote for Trump and change the USA and the world that is dependent on us.


76 posted on 04/28/2016 11:39:12 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (When The Ballot No Longer Counts, Tshe Ammo Box Does! What's In Your Ammo Box?(US Conservative)!)
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To: tillacum

The EU depends on the USA to be their “heavyweight” when there is trouble...The rest of the time, they mostly treat us like a redheaded stepchild....

It’s the old “Break Glass When Needed” syndrome....

Time for that to end.....


77 posted on 04/28/2016 11:41:01 AM PDT by JBW1949
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To: Rusty0604

Germany = “Greedy Liberals”

They want the comfort of American Defense at America’s Expense, while THEY CRITICIZE OUR MILITARY!!!


78 posted on 04/28/2016 11:46:26 AM PDT by AlanGreenSpam (Obama: The First 'American IDOL' President - sponsored by Chicago NeoCom Thugs)
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To: walkingdead

A lot of people say that the Czar wanted to retake Constantinople from the Turks. Given how things look now, that wouldn’t have been a bad thing.


79 posted on 04/28/2016 11:57:17 AM PDT by Tailback
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To: AlanGreenSpam

You got that right.


80 posted on 04/28/2016 11:59:16 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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