So here’s my wish list, Mr. President (I know it’ll be a few more hours yet before you’re sworn in, but first come first serve):

1) It’s time to enter a new era of international cooperation. Translated from German that means the old era of international cooperation was much too anstrengend (too much work) for us already, we want to say even more now and do even less than we have in the past.

2) No one land can solve all the world’s problems by itself. In your language this means of course that no one weak country can. But several weak countries, all pulling together, can keep a stronger one from trying to do so.

3) The era of Alleingänge (unilateral actions) is over. In English: The era of your unilateral actions is over. If we pull a few like we regularly do here and there that’s different because we are weak and small (see points 1 and 2) and therefore that’s OK.

4) Whatever you do, do not enter into another new era of protectionism. Translated from German that means something like please keep buying our cars because nobody here wants them anymore.

5) I have a whole lot more of these for you of course but this is your first day at work and I don’t want to come over as being too demanding or pushy or anything, not right just yet anyway.

„Sie hoffe, dass die zukünftige Zusammenarbeit mit den USA von gegenseitigem Zuhören geprägt werde.“