You can sure say that again

But why should such a wonderful development be seen as something to warn about?

The US is ‘no longer the America we used to know,’ warns Germany’s Merz.

Merz’s warning comes amid a whirlwind of personnel and agency slashes both within the U.S. federal government and to foreign aid since Trump took office. Since assuming the presidency, Trump’s administration has sent mass emails offering “deferred resignations” to all federal workers, sacked multiple federal watchdogs, and gotten rid of dozens of prosecutors who were involved in criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

The country has also frozen foreign aid and announced moves to put nearly all staff members at the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave.

Trump has also announced ambitions to take control of the Gaza Strip, of Greenland and of the Panama Canal, not ruling out the use of military force.

Mississippi burning…

Just burning to surpass Germany’s GDP per capita.

Poorest US state rivals Germany: GDP per capita in US and Europe – Mississippi, the poorest state in the United States, is close to surpassing Europe’s largest economy Germany’s GDP per capita. Euronews Business compares US states with European countries.

“I have already spoken to the future US president at length on the phone…”

“And we are also in direct contact with his advisers on security policy.”

Germany aims to align with Trump?” Has anybody told the Germans yet?

Germany aims to align with Trump to end ‘merciless’ Ukraine war – Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out supplying Kyiv with long-range missiles but stressed the country’s sovereignty should be guaranteed.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects he’ll find alignment with president-elect Donald Trump on how to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, playing down concerns a shift in US leadership risks splitting Kyiv’s biggest backers.

The Empire of Evil is now Germany’s biggest trading partner!

No, not China. US-Amerika itself.

US tops China as Germany’s biggest trading partner – The United States overtook China as Germany’s biggest trading partner in the first half of 2024, according to preliminary German statistics office data, as Berlin’s drive to reduce dependency on Beijing takes shape amid a resilient U.S. economy.

German imports and exports to the world’s largest economy totalled around 127 billion euros ($139 billion) from January to June, while for China the figure was 122 billion euros, according to Reuters’ calculations based on the data.

And why was Germany the key?

Because Putin (and everybody else the world) knows that Germany is erpressbar (blackmailable, open to blackmail).

Just like the current US-Amerika government of… whoever is actually running the government at the moment.

Why Germany was key to prisoner swap deal with Russia – The German government’s decision to release a convicted Russian killer serving a life sentence for murdering an exiled Chechen in Berlin in 2019 was crucial for the prisoner swap between Russia and the West…

The main figure in the swap, which involved several countries, was Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of killing a former Chechen militant in Berlin in 2019.

A clear message to future blackmailers: The German government lets a convicted murderer go free after two years in prison, just like that, somebody who bumped off one of Putin’s critics right here in Berlin’s Tiergarten, in broad daylight.

The money…

She is all gone, señor.

Let’s see what Ukraine’s biggest, not second biggest military donor does next year.

Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine – Germany is planning to nearly halve military aid for Ukraine next year, from around €8bn (£6.7bn; $8.7bn) to around €4bn, according to a draft budget approved by the government.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Ukraine’s financing was “secure for the foreseeable future” due to a G7 group of rich nations scheme to raise $50bn from interest on frozen Russian assets.

Germany is Ukraine’s second biggest military donor, after the US. In 2024, Berlin’s budget for Kyiv is set at nearly €7.5bn.

The Empire of Evil overtakes the Empire of Evil

As Germany’s top trading partner.

US overtakes China as Germany’s top trading partner – The United States overtook China as Germany’s most important trading partner in the first quarter of this year, according to Reuters’ calculations based on official data from the German statistics office.

Germany’s trade with the United States – exports and imports combined – totalled 63 billion euros ($68 billion) from January to March, while the figure for China was just under 60 billion euros, the data showed.

Germans say allies ‘not angry or upset’

About the German allies who are angry and upset with Germany.

Russia-Ukraine war live: Drones cut power to Crimea as Germany says allies ‘not angry or upset’ over leaks – Germany says leaked intercepted call explained as ‘individual mistake’ to Washington and London.

… Meanwhile, the German defence minister has said the country’s allies are “not angry or upset” after details of high-level military discussions were leaked to Russian media.

Boris Pistorius described the incident, which included German military officers saying British forces were “on the ground” in Ukraine helping launch missiles at Russia, as an “individual mistake”.

“They are not angry or upset with Germany because they know that we have rules and that things like this can happen,” the German defence minister said.

It sounds too good to be true

So, it probably isn’t.

US and Germany ‘plan to force Zelenskyy to negotiate’ through choking off arms supplies.

While outwardly expressing full support for Ukraine, behind closed doors in Berlin and Washington plans are being hatched to force Ukraine into talks with Russia to freeze the war on its current front lines, German newspaper BILD said in a report published on Nov. 24.

German of the day: Loser

That means loser. It also means losers (in plural).

US and Germany risk owning Ukraine’s stalling war effort – The onus is on European allies to step up support and chart a path for Kyiv towards Nato and EU membership.

More than 50 countries are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Yet Ukraine’s existential struggle in Europe’s largest war since 1945 currently hinges mainly on two countries. US leadership, as well as financial and material support for Kyiv, have been essential to Ukraine’s survival. Germany is its second largest supplier of weapons and money, far ahead of the rest of the field.