Helga Zepp-LaRouche Comments on Merkel’s Visit to the White House

“The atmosphere could hardly have been more uneasy between Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump during her visit to the White House. No handshake for the cameras, next to no eye contact, strained faces for both of them. Not only is there no chemistry between them, but it is obvious that in the current trans-Atlantic geometry, no solution for the tensions can be found. There is nonetheless, a way out in sight, but it can only be found on a totally different, higher level: the win-win cooperation with China and the New Silk Road, which the United States and Germany have both been invited to join.”

Such is the opening observation of Helga Zepp-LaRouche in an analysis for the German weekly Neue Solidarität written on March 18, one day after the German Chancellor met with the U.S. President. Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche heads the German political party Civil Rights Movement Solidarity, Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität (BüSo), and founded the Schiller Institute internationally.

Zepp-LaRouche continues: “Given the fact that Trump’s election meant the defeat of the neo-liberal, neo-conservative policy of Hillary Clinton, whom he called ‘America’s Angela Merkel,’ and that Merkel was considered as ‘Obama’s closest ally,’ it was not to be expected that the two of them would be on the same wavelength. Thus, the New York Times headlined its coverage ‘Merkel Meets Trump, the Defender Versus the Disrupter.’ When, during the joint press conference, a correspondent of Die Welt attempted to provoke Trump by bringing up the charges that the British intelligence agency GCHQ had wiretapped him for the Obama Administration, Trump turned to Merkel and commented with humor: ‘at least we have something in common.’ Trump got the laughs for that, while Mrs. Merkel could hardly muster a smile.”

Similar divergences also surfaced, Helga Zepp-LaRouche went on, at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Baden Baden, where they were unable to agree on formulations about “protectionism” and “fair trade.”

Much more promising, however, in Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s view, is the dynamic created by China’s diplomatic initiatives to prepare for the May 14-15 Belt and Road Forum summit in Beijing.