Berlin-beat reporter Alison Smale reported in Friday’s New York Times her version of the media’s latest favorite anti-Trump take: The cold reception of President Trump compared to the embrace of the cool Barack Obama, in “Europeans’ Welcomes for Trump and Obama Are a Study in Contrasts.” While Trump was quoted as being a “danger for the world,” “rock-star” Obama was happily sprinkling “political stardust” over the prospects of left-wing European politicians.
Smale pretty much spelled it out in the lead:
The contrast could not have been more stark.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany started Thursday in Berlin with the 44th president -- the one she has called “dear Barack.” She spent the afternoon in Brussels with the 45th, Donald J. Trump, whose election she greeted with a stern reminder to respect shared values like equality and freedom.
Mr. Obama was in Berlin to help celebrate 500 years since Martin Luther’s Reformation, and received a rock-star welcome from tens of thousands at the Brandenburg Gate. It was all bonhomie, waves and warm words, as the former president praised Ms. Merkel’s “outstanding work, not just here but around the world,” particularly with refugees.
Barely two hours later, Ms. Merkel was among the European leaders who greeted Mr. Trump coolly at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where few casual words, let alone warm ones, were exchanged, as the new American president once again castigated allies for not paying their fair share of bills.
That is tremendously unoriginal. Check out Oren Dorell on the front page of Friday's USA Today. Did they share notes? Obama was a "rock star" yet again:
Barack Obama and Donald Trump appeared in public at the same time in Europe Thursday, but reactions could not have been starker.
The former president received a rock-star welcome in Berlin, while his successor received looks of bewilderment from European leaders in Brussels.
Smale really rubbed it in:
While Mr. Obama is the leader Europe prefers, Mr. Trump’s sudden ascendance has been seen as a challenge to America’s commitment to Europe, both its unity and its security, as well as the values that underpin the Western alliance.....
Each man has, in fact, made his preferences clear at important moments in a kind of political proxy war. Mr. Obama, who remains wildly popular in Europe, was not shy about weighing in on France’s presidential race and endorsing the centrist reformer Emmanuel Macron, the winner.
Mr. Trump, on the other hand, lauded Mr. Macron’s far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen, and posted a message on Twitter saying a terror attack in Paris in April would “have a big effect on presidential election!” Ultimately it did not.
Smale kept the Obama compliments rolling.
She was with Mr. Obama, “the good American who everyone is already missing,” and then with President Trump, “the other America which needs to be dealt with. And that is what is so crucial -- of course she needs the relationship with Trump, but she can relativize that with pictures with Obama at the church meeting,” Mr. Techau added.
Obama the good political fairy:
Mr. Obama took his first step back onto the world stage earlier this month, at a food and technology conference in Milan, where he sprinkled his political stardust on Matteo Renzi, the center-left former Italian prime minister who is hoping for a comeback.
Smale went with style over substance, not addressing the disparity of NATO funding (France, Germany, Italy, and Canada are all under the 2%-of-GDP goal) in favor of portraying President Trump as a graceless oaf abroad.
Mr. Trump, the New Yorker, presented a large chunk of the North Tower of the World Trade Center where the first hijacked plane made impact on Sept. 11, 2001, leading NATO allies for the first time to invoke the collective defense clause, Article V, which European leaders were hoping Mr. Trump would endorse.
Instead, Mr. Trump wasted no time in reminding Europeans that most of them are not paying their way in defense, and that this is “not fair” to the American taxpayer.
While the atmosphere in Brussels was tense, in Berlin Germans and foreigners exulted in the chance to see and hear Mr. Obama live.
....
The very different sentiments evoked by Mr. Trump are equally clear.
“Donald Trump is not capable of being President of the U.S.A.,” wrote Klaus Brinkbäumer, the editor of Der Spiegel, in an extended editorial in the current issue.
The 45th president is neither intellectually nor morally equipped for the job, he wrote. “Trump must be removed from the White House. Fast. He is a danger for the world.”
