Global Affairs

The troubled relationship between Donald and Angela

As the US pulls troops out of Germany, a look back at the relationship between their leaders Donald Trump and Angela Merkel suggests personal animosity was one factor driving the deterioration in the strategic partnership between their two countries

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LONDON • Even by the erratic standards of the current United States administration, Washington's decision to withdraw almost 12,000 American troops stationed in Germany is a shock.

For although only about half of the American soldiers will actually return to US soil (the rest will be redeployed to other European states), the deterioration in the strategic partnership between the US and Germany - Europe's biggest state - is guaranteed to have a profoundly corrosive effect on the continent's overall security arrangements.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 03, 2020, with the headline The troubled relationship between Donald and Angela. Subscribe