Agency Report
Berlin – Germany’s ambassador to the United States has issued an unusually stark warning to the government concerning major changes likely to occur in US policy following the inauguration of Donald Trump as president.
In a diplomatic cable addressed to the chancellery, the Foreign Office and the Interior Ministry, seen by dpa on Sunday, Ambassador Andreas Michaelis writes that the Trump 2.0 Agenda will cause “maximum disruption.”
The cable refers to a breakup of the established political order and bureaucratic structures and to plans for vengeance, terming them a “redefinition of the constitutional order.”
This would imply “maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the states,” Michaelis writes ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
“Fundamental democratic principles, along with checks and balances will be undermined as far as possible, the legislature, law enforcement and media robbed of their independence and misused as political arm, and big tech will gain co-governing authority,” Michaelis wrote.
In his summary, Michaelis did not explicitly mention Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, a close adviser to Trump, but he did name him later on in an individual analysis.
The five-page cable carries the lowest of four confidentiality ratings meaning that it is intended for government officials only and not for wider publication.
The Foreign Office in Berlin said it did not comment on internal documents as a matter of principle, but added that the US was one of Germany’s closest allies.
“The Americans have voted for President Trump in a democratic election. We will of course cooperate closely with the new US administration in the interests of Germany and Europe,” it said.
It added that the German government maintained a network of relations with broader society, in the states and in Congress across party lines.
