German interference in the U.S. political system as means of countering President Trump’s foreign policy agenda has sparked sharp criticism from Republican senators.
There has been no shortage of conflict between Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have locked horns over trade, Iran, Israel’s capital Jerusalem and NATO.
German politicians have lashed out at the Trump administration over the past few weeks, criticizing, in particular, the president’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal.
Heiko Maas, Germany’s Social Democratic foreign minister and a passionate defender of the Iran deal, on Wednesday said: “America is bigger than the White House. Trump will not change that, either. He can tweet as much as he wants.”
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In a recent interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Maas’ Social Democratic colleague, Niels Annen, called for direct intervention in U.S. politics beyond the White House, urging the explicit lobbying of governors, congressmen and senators as a means of benefiting German trade policy.
Prominent party members from Angela Merkel’s own Christian Democratic Union party have also attacked Trump.
Friedrich Merz, a former leader of Merkel’s coalition in the German parliament who is now chairman of the Atlantic Bridge, an NGO devoted to promoting German-American understanding, told the Welt am Sonntag paper: “We Europeans must redefine our role in this world, at least in our minds, without the United States.”
Merz also called for intervention in U.S. politics, saying there is a need to “intensify the dialogue with those social and political groups and institutions in America that do not follow the battle cry ‘America First’ and who, like us Europeans, feel a common and mutual responsibility for an open and free society.”
The attacks come after Richard Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, said in an interview with Breitbart last month that he wants to “empower other conservatives throughout Europe.”
Grenell, a former Fox News contributor and a fierce opponent of Iran’s bellicose policies, has urged Germany to wind down its business with Iran and bar Iran’s Mahan Air from entering German airspace.
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In a meeting last month with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Grenell revealed: “We know that Mahan Air has been used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] as a mode of transport for weapons, resources and fighters, so we’re asking our allies to help…
