GERMANY - The former socialist vice chancellor of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, has described the United States as a “rogue superpower”, saying President Donald Trump sees the world as a “battleground”. The former leader of the Social Democratic Party, who was German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s deputy until March, told Handelsblatt that the election of Donald Trump as President in 2016 was the trigger for him to write a book, where he describes the alienation of Russia from the West and the rise of China, and brands the United States a “rogue superpower.”
“Trump wakes up the country every day with his emotions,” Gabriel told the German business newspaper, in criticism of the President’s direct communication with the American electorate via social media. Adding that he believes President Trump “only knows confrontation,” especially with China, he alludes to the President in gladiatorial terms, saying: “For Trump, the world is an arena, a battleground.”
The German politician made similar comments in July during the President’s visit to the United Kingdom, when he urged EU nations to give a “unified” response to President Trump, saying: “Donald Trump only knows strength. So we have to show him that we are strong, too.” He also accused the President of wanting “regime change in Germany” and claimed that “America under Trump cannot be relied upon.”