Photo Gallery Preparing for the Worst
German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn't know a lot about the new Trump administration, but government sources say she fears the new American president will not mature into the role of a statesman. She is said to be preparing for the worst. She also believes that trans-Atlantic relations could soon get frosty.
The relatively few contacts Merkel's government has with the Trump camp have indicated that Europeans can expect an America-first approach from the next president. But what will that mean for the trans-Atlantic alliance and the postwar world order?
One of the more worrisome aspects for officials in Berlin is that Trump said on the campaign trail he would like to "dismantle" the nuclear agreement reached with Tehran that saw the country eschew its pursuit of a nuclear weapon in exchange for the elimination of sanctions. Many in Germany and Europe view it as one of the few positive foreign policy developments seen in recent years.
They are also worried about statements he has made on NATO and its mutual defense clause. Will the United States step in to defend Baltic states if Russia seeks to conduct the kind of aggressions against Estonia or Latvia that it did in Crimea? Not necessarily, he has implied. This mural in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius expresses concerns about Trump's courting of Putin that are shared across much of Eastern and, in fact, Western Europe.
Trump has raised some doubts about the importance of the NATO trans-Atlantic alliance. But some in Berlin government circles believe that his nominee for Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, may talk sense into Trump about the importance of US-European and Western relations.
They are less sanguine about Michael Flynn, his pick for national security adviser. One retired military official said: "At best, he is useful as a locomotive fire tender and not as a strategist." Others accuse him of finding civilian collateral damage in Afghanistan to be acceptable.
During a private meeting with outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama, Merkel is said to have expressed deep concern over Trump's election. Some are hoping that, with the division he sows, Trump may help to drive the European Union together. That would be one positive effect of his election.
