The assassination attempt on Donald Trump has not only shocked the USA, but also German politicians have reacted with horror. Peter Rough, a strategy consultant close to the Republicans, sees shortcomings on the part of the Social Democrats.
Mr. Rough, where in the USA are you right now and what is the mood like?
I am in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC that borders the federal capital. The city seems relatively relaxed. The heated atmosphere is more evident on social media, where people are speculating and talking about practically nothing else. But I have to admit that when I read the first reports that Donald Trump had been assassinated and hit in the neck, I got a chill down my spine. That could have turned out to be very explosive for Trump and America.
To person
Advisor to the Republicans
Peter Rough is the director of the European department at the conservative-leaning Hudson Institute. The Iowa native served as an advisor to former US President George W. Bush’s office and helped write his memoir “Decision Points.” Rough is a member of the Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN) National Security Task Force and vice-chair of a working group at the Ronald Reagan Institute.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has consistently expressed his support for incumbent President and candidate Joe Biden, despite his obvious physical weakness.
No matter what the political situation is in the USA, Germany has to remain neutral. It is not appropriate to support one party or the other. In my opinion, Scholz would be well advised to stay out of the election campaign altogether. In this respect, the interview on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Apulia, where he was betting on Biden’s re-election, was a mistake.
The images of the wounded Trump raising his fist in the air will go down in history. Observers see this as a massive campaign advantage. Would a re-elected President Trump take the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz seriously?
Yes, of course. After all, Scholz is the Chancellor of the most powerful country in Europe. Trump is impressed by power, and Germany is an essential contact for the USA. It is questionable whether Scholz will fill the Chancellor’s office and exploit his potential to actively shape the German environment. But he is still absolutely important and will continue to be important for Washington as German Chancellor.
While representatives of the CSU visited Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last year and maintain contacts in the Republican camp, German liberals, the Greens and the SPD tend to avoid the right-wing conservative camp.
Yes, representatives of the CSU were sharply criticized for this visit. In retrospect, the criticism was pure nonsense. German politics is doing somewhat better than in 2016, when people were completely unprepared to accept Donald Trump’s election victory. But one senses in Washington that the German establishment is ideologically somewhat closer to the Democrats and that Berlin prefers the Democratic Party as a cooperation partner. But relations with the Republicans are also important. The preparatory work must be intensified.
Scholz called the attack “despicable” and wished Trump a speedy recovery. What do the reactions say about the current mood in Germany?
Yes, the political statements were okay. But it didn’t take long for German media and commentators to stop talking about the assassination and instead regret that Trump seems almost unstoppable. The German media see themselves as being associated with newspapers like the New York Times or the Washington Post or magazines like The New Yorker or The Atlantic. And these media are simply permeated with anti-Trump sentiment. This is evident in German reporting.
What impact will the attack have on transatlantic relations?
The biggest impact, of course, is that Biden is politically weakened. Opponents such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now traveling to Washington, can no longer really put Biden under pressure in negotiations. In the short term, this will also be reflected in American foreign policy. In the medium term, the biggest effect is that Trump is more likely to win the election – Germany should prepare for this.