Leaders of Mexico and Germany Are Set to Meet in ‘Solidarity’ Against Trump Kate Linthicum - The Associated Press
go to original June 9, 2017

In what her government has called “a sign of solidarity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on today.

High on the agenda during her two-day state visit to Mexico will be their mutual political dilemma: President Donald Trump.

From the launch of his presidential campaign two years ago through his early days in the White House, Trump made Mexico his punching bag. He called Mexican immigrants criminals, pledged to tax imports from Mexico and insisted that Mexico would pay for construction of a border wall.

But in recent months, he has extended his ire to a much wider circle of nations, many of which, like Mexico, are longtime U.S. allies.

That includes Germany, which the president has criticized for its trade surplus with the U.S., for resettling large numbers of Syrian migrants and for not spending enough on defense to meet its commitment to NATO.

Merkel has suggested that Trump’s pugnacious foreign policy, which includes recent criticism of U.S. allies South Korea, Australia and Qatar, as well as the mayor of London for his handling of recent terrorist attacks in Britain, may be fundamentally altering the geopolitical map. Europe “can no longer rely” on its longtime friend the United States, she said at an election rally in Munich, saying people on the continent must “take our fate into our own hands.”

Merkel appears poised to do that on her visit to Mexico, where she and Pena Nieto will discuss trade and how to move forward on combating climate change after Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

Germany’s ambassador to Mexico, Viktor Elbling, suggested the visit is in part meant to demonstrate his nation’s leadership on the world stage and define new alliances that aren’t centered on the United States. “The fact that she is coming to Mexico in this difficult international political climate is a very clear sign of solidarity,” he said in a statement.

In Mexico, where many feel not only afraid of the economic ramifications of Trump’s policies, but also deeply offended by his rhetoric, that support is welcome.

Read the rest at The Gazette

Related: Chancellor Merkel, Mexico’s New Amiga (Mexico News Daily)

Photo: Politico Europe

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