Herbert Raymond McMaster, former security adviser to US President Donald Trump, criticized former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, suggesting that she had been misled by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a long period. While expressing great respect for Merkel in an interview with “Stern” McMaster argued that she kept believing she could bring Putin back into the international community despite his alleged deception.
When questioned about rumors that the former chancellor was being considered for a role as an European envoy to Russia, McMaster stated that everyone was learning from these events, pointing to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as a lesson for many.
McMaster served as National Security Adviser under Trump from February 2017 to April 2018, and during that time, he witnessed the US President negotiating with Putin. He asserted that Putin carefully studies how to manipulate other heads of state, including Trump, calling this an open secret. McMaster recalled that the process involved flattery, initially by claiming to know how poorly Trump had been treated, followed by establishing a shared sense of pain. As a third step, Putin usually proposes large deals that both sides can boast about. Specifically, the former US adviser claimed that Putin had promised Chancellor Merkel affordable energy to ensure the success of the German economic model.
