Bundestag Vice President and foreign policy expert Omid Nouripour (The Greens) warns against placing excessive hope in a defeat for Trump’s Republicans in the US midterms elections. Nouripour stated to the TV channel “Welt” that an embattled Donald Trump could, ironically, pose an even greater foreign policy risk.
While he admits that strengthening the traditional “Checks and Balances” system in the United States would be desirable-a system he feels has become less functional in the last two years-he cautions that predicting the behavior of the US president is impossible. Nouripour believes that Trump is not the type of leader who would passively accept a “lame duck” status after a loss, feeling he has little power left. Instead, he might very well continue to act impulsively or recklessly, and “that is not a good thing.”
He emphasizes that Germany has significant interests in the Iran conflict, the related inflation impacting German petrol prices, and the increasing unreliability of the US in the Ukraine. He argues that these interests are being dangerously threatened by what he views as thoughtless behavior or by actions taken by the US president that do not serve German interests. From his perspective, the outcome of the midterm elections will not fundamentally change this situation.
Therefore, Nouripour stresses that the crucial takeaway is for Germany to refocus on its own strengths and understand that the US is currently not the most reliable partner. Although he is a strong proponent of transatlantic cooperation, he insists that Germany must also be capable of self-reliance. He dismisses the idea that international efforts can simply stand down for the next two years because Trump might lose the midterms, calling this concept “nonsense.”
