Trump's Habit of Cozying Up to Dictators Only Makes America Weaker

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

31 May 17

his morning, Trump tweeted that the United States has a “MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change.”

Rubbish.

Trump is just trying to get even for the negative things Angela Merkel and the German foreign minister had to say about him over the weekend -- which were entirely justifiable. Trump’s refusal to endorse NATO’s famous Article 5, the guarantee of mutual defense, at the NATO summit, combined with his refusal to join the Paris climate accord, made his trip a catastrophe.

As to Trump's morning tweet, he's wrong both on substance and on politics. Substantively, Trump (and his obtuse trade adviser, Peter Navarro) assume Germany wants a weak euro when, in fact, Germany has been critical of the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing policy that’s helping hold down the euro.

Germany also saves a big chunk of what it earns, resulting in more money flowing out of Germany in search of investments around the world (capital outflows) into places like the United States. So the real issue is capital flows, not trade. And it’s not all bad for America.

Politically, Trump’s blast at Germany is just as stupid. Germany is now the most powerful democracy in the world, and our most powerful ally in Europe. Rather than cozy up to dictators, Trump would serve America’s interests better by cozying up to our friends.

What do you think?