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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump according to Angela Merkel's memoir
snip...
- Angela Merkels first mistake with Donald Trump, she says in her new memoir, was treating him as if he were completely normal, but she quickly learned of his emotional nature and soft spot for authoritarians and tyrants. She stressed that she was wrong about Trump since she first thought he was "normal".
- During their first meeting in 2017 in the Oval Office, where he attempted to humiliate her by refusing to shake her hand before the cameras. I whispered to him that we should shake hands again, she writes. As soon as the words left my mouth, I shook my head at myself. How could I forget that Trump knew precisely what he was doing. He wanted to give people something to talk about with his behavior, while I had acted as though I were having a conversation with someone completely normal.
- Now unbound by diplomatic niceties, Merkel sizes up Trump as emotional and driven by grievance and neediness, in contrast to her factual approach. It seemed that his main aim was to make the person he was talking to feel guilty. At the same time, I had the impression that he also wanted the person he was talking with to like him.
- Rather than trying to build bridges with traditional allies, Merkel writes, Trump was apparently fascinated with the Russian president, and she notes that politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits had him in their thrall.
- According to the former chancellor, Trump did not believe in cooperation. He was convinced that all countries were competitors of each other, where the success of one meant the failure of the other. He did not believe that the prosperity of all countries could be increased through cooperation.
https://lifewithnofears.blogspot.com/2025/01/5-reasons-why-former-german-chancellor.html
Unknown ie, not known to me....source; found in Bluesky thread about restaurant protestors.

Norrrm
(3,004 posts)
Now THIS Im inclined to believe. 🤔
NJCher
(41,464 posts)Look at this, quoted from the blog post:
It seemed that his main aim was to make the person he was talking to feel guilty. At the same time, I had the impression that he also wanted the person he was talking with to like him.
The purpose of communication us to inform or inquire. It can also be to entertain or persuade. Make a request.
He probably attacked her to make her feel guilty. He's always doing this, if you notice what he says. By attacking people, he tries to get them to feel guilty. Why?
My guess is to manipulate them. This person is so effed up. Just such a mess.
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Nice find, Canetoad. I look forward to reading more from her book.
canetoad
(19,489 posts)And gain some perceived advantage. Manipulated nails it.
progressoid
(51,969 posts)Sadly, a lot of people still think he's "normal."
LiberalArkie
(18,947 posts)Cha
(314,433 posts)of Germany, Angela Merkel .
I always liked her a lot.. who could not? Oh the jealous Siberian candidate, Fake pres, Traitor to the USA. Showing off what an Asshole he is in the oval office.
SunSeeker
(56,734 posts)
IcyPeas
(24,242 posts)fujiyamasan
(708 posts) Look, having nuclearmy uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smartyou know, if youre a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the worldits true!but when you're a conservative Republican they tryoh, do they do a numberthats why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortuneyou know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because were a little disadvantagedbut you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers meit would have been so easy, and its not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was rightwho would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisonersnow it used to be three, now its fourbut when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they havent figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, its gonna take them about another 150 yearsbut the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.