By Sabine Siebold and Friederike Heine
BERLIN, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Germany’s ambassador to the United States has warned that the incoming Trump administration will rob U.S. law enforcement and the media of their independence and hand big tech companies “co-governing power”, according to a confidential document seen by Reuters.
The briefing document, dated Jan. 14 and signed by Ambassador Andreas Michaelis, describes Donald Trump‘s agenda for his second White House term as one of “maximum disruption” that will bring about “a redefinition of the constitutional order – maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the federal states.”
“Basic democratic principles and checks and balances will be largely undermined, the legislature, law enforcement and media will be robbed of their independence and misused as a political arm, Big Tech will be given co-governing power,” it says.
Trump’s transition team had no immediate comment on the ambassador’s assessment.
On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would “continue to work closely together [with the U.S.], but of course we also want to continue to stand up for our own interests.”
Asked to explain the ambassador’s stance on Trump on German public broadcaster ZDF, Baerbock said Michaelis was merely doing his job and that Trump had openly stated much of his agenda.
The outgoing government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has largely refrained from direct public criticism of Trump since the election, but the ambassador’s confidential assessment offers a blunt view from a senior German official.
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