David Pakman

Uh, that means interestingly enough that he doesn't have to say this or anything at all, which in a sense means that when he does say it, it carries some weight.

Steinmeier is warning that the world is sliding into what he calls a den of robbers.

and a world where the most powerful countries just take what they want and borders don't matter, which really describes both the personal kleptocracy of Donald Trump, but also his approach to foreign policy and diplomatic relations.

And if democracy doesn't matter, you then have to consider what role is the United States

playing in diminishing the importance of democracy.

Now, this is not just about, you know, Russia has invaded Ukraine and Donald Trump is pushing for a solution that would involve Russia getting to keep a bunch of the land it took from Ukraine.

This is sort of bigger than that.

And Steinmeier called American behavior a second historic rupture after Russia in terms of the collapse of global norms.

This is a big deal.

Now, I know that a lot of magas will go.

We don't care what Europeans think about this, that or the other thing.

Now, we know we know that you don't care.

The point is, some of us are actually still thinking about how does the world see what Donald Trump has been up to?

And the answer is not particularly well.

It is extraordinary.

for the president of Germany to say that the country that helped build the post-World War two order, as did the United States, is now participating in tearing it down.

And it's not like an abstract

idea.

Steinmeier's comments really are referencing Trump's actions in Venezuela, including the removal and kidnapping of the president, Nicolas Maduro.

And what he's really kind of getting at here is strong countries deciding to get deciding who gets to run weaker countries and the concept that there are rules for some and not for others.