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German chancellor hopeful says Trump win risks transatlantic collapse

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Norbert Roettgen, a prominent member of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) | Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesPress play to listen to this articleVoiced byBERLIN — A senior member of Germany’s ruling conservatives delivered a stark warning on the future of transatlantic ties, saying the reelection of Donald Trump as U.S. president could endanger the alliance and open the door for China and other powers to try and fill the vacuum.Norbert Röttgen, the chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee and candidates in the running to take over the leadership of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), told POLITICO in an interview that cooperation between the U.S. and Europe would be in serious jeopardy if Trump wins the November 3 election."The current American administration is driven by a logic of punishment whenever others do not abide,” Röttgen said. “It isn’t possible to build a partnership on this basis.”Members of Germany’s ruling parties usually try to avoid taking sides in American campaigns. Röttgen’s frank criticism, just weeks before the U.S. election, reflects both the nervousness in Berlin over the prospects of a second Trump term and the depth of frustration over his first. He suggested that Germany’s experience with the Trump administration thus far has left little hope for finding common ground if he's reelected.“The U.S. would see its ability to take international leadership erode further,” Röttgen said. “A country that is internally divided and full of acrimony will at some point lose the ability to shape foreign affairs, so we’d see the American retreat from international politics continue, creating a vacuum that others would be more than happy to fill.”“Should Joe Biden win, I would expect his government to return to a partnership based on rational thinking and cooperation” — Norbert RöttgenThe remarks are all the more revealing considering Germany's heavy reliance on the U.S., both for its security and in economic terms. The U.S. is Germany's biggest export market and a crucial base for a number of major German corporations, including marquee manufacturers such as BMW and Daimler, which owns Mercedes.That a leading German conservative would speak so bluntly about the administration underscores just how dysfunctional the German-U.S. relationship has become. Trump has regularly lambasted Germany since he took office over everything from its modest defense spending to its refugee policies. Attempts by Chancellor Angela Merkel to find common ground largely fell flat and the relationship hit a new low in July with Trump's decision to about 12,000 U.S. troops stationed in the country.Trump's attacks have triggered a collapse in Germans’ opinions of the U.S. Only about a quarter of Germans have a “favorable” opinion of the U.S., down from nearly 60 percent in 2016, according to a released this month by the Pew Research Center.Röttgen, 55, has been a standard-bearer for the transatlantic alliance for decades and is a familiar face on Capitol Hill, especially among Republicans, long the natural allies of Germany’s conservatives. Aside from Merkel and Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, he is arguably the best-known and respected German conservative outside Germany.Though Röttgen is considered a longshot to win the CDU’s leadership contest, his candidacy has been buoyed by a string of international crises, such as the political upheaval in Belarus, that have allowed him to put his foreign policy skills on display. Winning the CDU job would make Röttgen a leading candidate to succeed Merkel after next year's election, when she has said she will step down.Even as he predicted a dark future for the transatlantic alliance if Trump wins, Röttgen said a Joe Biden victory would present the opportunity for a new beginning.“Should Joe Biden win, I would expect his government to return to a partnership based on rational thinking and cooperation,” Röttgen said during the interview in his Bundestag office, recalling his interactions with the Democratic nominee when he was still a senator.“A new American administration will understand that the goal shouldn’t be to force American positions on Germans and Europeans, but rather to find a new division of labor,” he said. “Both sides need to contribute.”One area of focus would be China, he said. While the Trump administration’s assessment of China as a long-term systemic threat has become bipartisan consensus in Washington, that is not the case in Europe.Röttgen expressed optimism that the transatlantic China strategy that has eluded the Trump administration could become a reality under Biden.He added that he was confident Germany would soon come to a decision over how to deal with Chinese telecom equipment supplier Huawei, which is vying to build next-generation wireless networks in Germany. While the U.S. and the U.K. have decided to ban the company’s equipment over security concerns, Germany continues to debate the issue.Norbert Röttgen | Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThough he has stopped short of endorsing the outright ban on Huawei pushed by Washington,&nbsp;Röttgen has repeatedly warned of the dangers of embracing Chinese technology, stressing that Europe must not allow itself “to become dependent and then susceptible to blackmail.”It’s a view that has gradually gained traction in Germany’s political establishment in recent months and the issue could soon come to a head.“Over the past year, we’ve engaged in an intensive debate in Germany, the result of which has been that we haven’t taken any wrong decisions,” Röttgen said. “It would now be desirable to make a right decision as soon as possible, one that is driven by the goal of expanding German and European digital sovereignty. I am optimistic.”Related stories on these topics:© 2020 POLITICO SRLLog in to access content and manage your profile. If you do not have a login you can .

Norbert Roettgen, a prominent member of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) | Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesPress play to listen to this articleVoiced byBERLIN — A senior member of Germany’s ruling conservatives delivered a stark warning on the future of transatlantic ties, saying the reelection of Donald Trump as U.S. president could endanger the alliance and open the door for China and other powers to try and fill the vacuum.Norbert Röttgen, the chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee and candidates in the running to take over the leadership of the center-right Christian...

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Matthew Karnitschnig

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German chancellor hopeful says Trump win risks transatlantic collapse

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