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5/31/20

German-US Relations: Little love, as Berlin bids 'auf Wiedersehen' to Trumpism - by Andrew Rettman

He provoked lively debate about Russia, Iran, and Nato spending.

He might still clash with Germany on the Western Balkans, on which he remains a US special envoy.

But Richard Grenell, the outgoing US ambassador to Berlin, might well be remembered in Europe mostly for his "Trumpian" style, which did not help an already rocky transatlantic relationship.

Grenell, a 53-year old former civil servant and media consultant, harangued German politicians on the strategic dangers of Nord Stream 2, a Russian gas pipeline to Germany.

He spotlighted alleged Iranian violations of an EU-backed nuclear non-proliferation deal.

"I do not comment on the ambassador's [Grenell's] statement on Twitter," German foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said on Monday, referring to Grenell's threat to keep up US "pressure" on issues such as Nord Stream 2.

But the German and wider EU public did comment on Trumpian diplomacy when asked by US pollster The Pew Research Centre last year.

Just 39 percent of people in Germany approved of the US in general and fewer than half did so in France, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

And only 13 percent of Germans trusted Trump personally - a lower rating than those of the Chinese and Russian leaders, and far from the 86-percent approval of former US president Barack Obama.

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Little love, as Berlin bids 'auf Wiedersehen' to Trumpism

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