Memoir of former German chancellor recalls US president’s soft spot for tyrants and apparent fascination with Putin

Summary

In her memoir Freedom, Angela Merkel reflects on her misjudgment of Donald Trump, initially treating him as “completely normal” before realizing his emotional nature and authoritarian inclinations.

She recounts his attempts to humiliate her, his zero-sum worldview, and fascination with autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin.

Merkel also critiques Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and his hostility toward Germany.

Addressing her legacy, she discusses tensions with Putin over NATO and acknowledges criticism of her reliance on Russian gas and liberal refugee policies.

  • Gsus4English
    1218·
    23 hours ago

    Angela Merkel’s first mistake with Donald Trump, she says in her keenly awaited new memoir, was treating him as if he were “completely normal”, but she quickly learned of his “emotional” nature and soft spot for authoritarians and tyrants.

    like everyone else around him. clickbait

      • Gsus4English
        105·
        20 hours ago

        “Look at that naïve idiot Merkel, she thought trump was normal”. No, she started trying to treat him as normal guy, but quickly found otherwise.

        That is at best a misleading title and at worst ragebait.

        • babybus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          61·
          14 hours ago

          It isn’t a ragebait just because you are raging for no reason. That line is in the article, it is in the book. It isn’t clickbait by definition.

          • Gsus4English
            4·
            13 hours ago

            was treating him as if he were “completely normal”, but she quickly learned of his “emotional” nature and soft spot for authoritarians and tyrants.

            According to the first paragraph of the article, the opposite of the headline happened. She never “mistook” him for normal.