Olaf Scholz calls Trump on the return of peace

Chancellor Olaf Scholz offers American President-elect Donald Trump “to continue the decades-long successful cooperation between the governments of both countries.” In her first phone call since the US election, Scholz personally congratulated Trump on his election victory, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. In the conversation on Sunday evening, both agreed to work together towards a return of peace in Europe. They also discussed German-American relations and the current geopolitical challenges.

Previously, with regard to the punitive tariffs on European and German products that Trump threatened during the election campaign, Scholz emphasized that the EU Commission was responsible for trade issues. You have to look for cooperation. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) had said that he expected that new US tariffs would be calibrated in such a way “that it particularly affects German imports into the USA or exports from Germany”.

In the ARD program Caren Miosga, Scholz said with regard to working with Trump: “I’m never naive, but also always a bit fearless.” During his first term in office, Trump massively criticized Germany for what he saw as insufficient military spending, the German trade surplus and the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Scholz had already offered Trump a reliable partnership on Wednesday, immediately after his election victory. But he also made it clear that he was preparing for changes in his relationship with the USA.

According to the Washington Post, Trump is said to have recalled the significant US military presence in Europe in his conversation with Putin. Accordingly, both politicians expressed their interest in further talks to discuss an early “settlement of the Ukraine war”. In addition, the question of Ukraine’s future territorial structure was briefly addressed.

Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung did not want to confirm the report when asked. He wrote to the AFP news agency that he “does not comment on private conversations between President Trump and other heads of state and government.”

Trump won the US presidential election with a clear majority on Tuesday. During the election campaign, he assured that he would be able to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, possibly before he takes office on January 20th. However, he never explained how he planned to accomplish this. At the same time, Trump resolutely opposed the continued support of Ukraine with billions of dollars from the USA.

The quick solution promised by Trump could mean that Ukraine would have to cede part of its territory to Russia. Moscow even calls the cession of large areas of Ukraine to Russia a prerequisite for peace negotiations; the government in Kiev has firmly rejected this.