Summary

In her memoir Freedom, Angela Merkel reflects on her misjudgment of Donald Trump, initially treating him as “completely normal” before realizing his emotional nature and authoritarian inclinations.

She recounts his attempts to humiliate her, his zero-sum worldview, and fascination with autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin.

Merkel also critiques Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and his hostility toward Germany.

Addressing her legacy, she discusses tensions with Putin over NATO and acknowledges criticism of her reliance on Russian gas and liberal refugee policies.

  • @Gsus4@mander.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    10
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    “Look at that naïve idiot Merkel, she thought trump was normal”. No, she started trying to treat him as normal guy, but quickly found otherwise.

    That is at best a misleading title and at worst ragebait.

    • babybus
      link
      fedilink
      English
      818 hours ago

      It isn’t a ragebait just because you are raging for no reason. That line is in the article, it is in the book. It isn’t clickbait by definition.

      • @Gsus4@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        4
        edit-2
        18 hours ago

        was treating him as if he were “completely normal”, but she quickly learned of his “emotional” nature and soft spot for authoritarians and tyrants.

        According to the first paragraph of the article, the opposite of the headline happened. She never “mistook” him for normal.