It is better if the U.S. and Germany are working together to combat the spread of authoritarian and anti-democratic countries and their sphere of influence. It is worse if the U.S. and Germany decide to act more separately in countering that threat. It is bad when U.S. foreign policy is so bungled that Germany determines that we are now an inconstant and untrustworthy ally that cannot be counted on to fulfill its security commitments. It is astonishing that the Trump Administration managed to all-but-destroy the presumption of cooperation and mutual assistance with one of the most important countries in Europe in just a month of bad diplomacy.

This. We paid dearly in blood for peace in Europe, and Russia paid even more. Russians feel deeply about the loss of empire, and Putin plays to that with Crimea and now Ukraine, but he feels it too. It's akin to "The South gonna rise again". Many people were very happy that the Germans were not gearing up militarily, and now the economy looks like it isn't going to be doing well.

There's no reason to beat up Europe, Canada, or Mexico over our domestic problems. Have you ever wondered why Mexico doesn't seem to have the drug addiction problems we do? We benefit tremendously from the soft power influence and the treaties and alliances we make. The big drain on our economy is giving the rich tax cuts - and Trump is going to do it again. Doge's only attacking 5-6% of the budget, but it makes a splash.

We're going to stumble around giving a show to MAGA that takes us right into a recession, and we lose friends. Depressing.