By Rick Noack, The Washington Post
COLOGNE, Germany — Donald Trump’s alarmist angst has not spared some of America’s key allies. Chancellor Angela Merkel might not have been pleased, for example, to hear that she was “ruining Germany,” as Trump has suggested. Meanwhile, British officials were astonished when they heard parts of their country had become violence-ridden “no-go” zones – a claim they refuted.
This week, Trump raised questions about whether he would aid NATO allies in Europe if they were behind in contributions to the alliance.
U.S. allies abroad listened carefully to Trump’s nomination acceptance speech on Thursday – searching for clues on what a possible Trump presidency would mean for them. But most commentators were unimpressed and downright cynical.
“In Europe, the kind of shameless self-promotion Trump pursues would immediately disqualify him from any political office,” posted Ulrich Speck, a German foreign policy analyst and writer.
“As I watch this, I keep thinking of how profoundly, ridiculously unlikely this would have seemed a year ago,” said Mark Little, vice president of Twitter Media Partnerships in Europe.
Such skepticism is not new, though.
Trump has never been a particularly popular presidential candidate outside the U.S. borders, as a Pew Research Center poll from spring 2016 showed.
Not much has changed, judging by Friday’s international commentary on Trump’s speech at the GOP convention.
Germany
Over the last months, Trump has had few good things to say about the nation possessing Europe’s largest economy. The Republican nominee has repeatedly criticized the influx of refugees into Germany as misguided.
But the lack of trust appears to be mostly mutual. Der Spiegel magazine commented on Friday: “Trump promises everybody everything … This election campaign will be tough and dirty.”
“Trump had to reach three objectives,” Der Spiegel correspondent Marc Pitzke wrote, noting that Trump had to unite, embrace minority groups and ease tensions. “But he failed at all three.”
The influential Bild tabloid newspaper agreed. “Trump explained what he wants to do,” said a Bild commentary. “But he failed to tell his supporters how he wants do it.”
Most German media outlets also picked apart Trump’s promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border – a controversial proposal especially for Germans who fought for decades to tear down a wall which separated their divided country.
France
Trump has commented on terror attacks in France in the past, using them to back up his arguments about immigration and the threat posed by Islamist extremists. France’s Front National party — which shares some goals with Trump — is expected to make gains in the next elections in 2017 using some of the law-and-order calls pushed by Trump.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was booed at the memorial ceremony for the victims of the Nice terror attack – the third major bloodshed on French soil within less than two years.
But Trump’s suggestion to ban or pause immigration from countries where “terrorists” operate might raise concerns for the French, among other European nations with large number of Islamic State supporters.
Ireland and Britain
Ireland received a flood of interest from Britons seeking Irish passports after their country voted to leave the European Union. Now, some Irish believe the country could face a wave of American migrants if Trump wins. At least that is what is being rumored on various Irish news sites.
One Twitter user recently described how American tourists who promised to “dump Trump” received 10 percent discounts in some stores in Northern Ireland.
But the Irish Independent could not help but marvel at Trump’s abilities as a speaker. “Ever the showman, he fed off the energy of the crowd, stepping back to soak in applause and joining the delegates as they chanted: ‘U-S-A.’,” the paper remarked.
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