A few months before the American presidential elections, the chancellor Olaf Solz he does not hide his preference. Last month at the G7 Summit in Italy he bluntly stated that he would prefer a second term Joe Biden.

From the side of Gens Spahn, a Christian Democrat and former health minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel, considers the German chancellor’s stance wrong. The German politician is even taking part in the Republican convention, because he believes that Berlin must deal with Donald Trump differently.

The conservative politician stated on her television DW from the conference in Milwaukee: “It is very possible that Donald Trump will be the next president of the USA and we must not make the same mistake we did during his presidency. Then unfortunately there was no network of contacts with his team Trump. No one really knew what they wanted to do. This time we should cultivate contacts with him and his team. That is why it is important to have a presence at the conference.”

“Europe needs the USA, whoever the president is”

The political world in Berlin is not only worried about the possibility of re-election of Donald Trump, but also about the possibility of the election of James David Vance to the position of vice president. THE Jay Dee Vance he had openly said on a podcast in 2022 that he “doesn’t really care what happens in Ukraine”.

The Christian Democrat politician Jens Spahn believes that the messages of the Trump and Vance duo should wake up the Europeans: “The USA is our most important ally. They guarantee safety in Europe. The truth is that without the USA, Europe is not safe. It is valid today and will be valid at least in the medium term. That’s why we need the US as a partner, whoever the president is.”

Members of the German government remain hopeful that a Democrat will eventually cross the threshold of the White House. As time passes, however, the political world in Berlin is preparing for a new Trump term. Liberal Michael Link, the German government’s co-ordinator of transatlantic relations, is nonetheless optimistic about Trump’s re-election and explains to DW why: “Despite the ‘America First’ rhetoric, Donald Trump will quickly realize that the US will still need allies under their leadership, for example in China policy, where the US and the EU can achieve more together rather than each side pursuing its own agenda.”

Editor: Stefanos Georgakopoulos