Originally Posted by Sunset Poet
Rob,
That is not true. The most current reporting month has inflation under 3%, but the FED remains worried about it because of the US economic condition at this time.
I'm not going to debate things that I know not to be true. That's time wasted.

Beyond that;

I know nothing about Germany other than a handful of things that I've seen in the media stating that their economy was in trouble. KTM bankrupted so I did a little reading on that. Though Austrian, there was mention of regional concerns in some of what I saw.

I also know that the Nazi invasion of Russia and the subsequent Battle of Stalingrad... and the subsequent invasion and partition of Germany by the Russians... was not even 100 years ago...and that such animosities don't go all the way away. That makes both the Germans and Russians particularly prickly and adamant when it comes to a peace deal after a recent Russian invasion. That is undoubtedly tainting the German view of Trump, in addition to his insistence that the EU pay up for NATO participation.

And from what little I have seen, Germany has its own internal conflicts and struggles with the rightward swing on the Western Civilization pendulum.

Marty

Marty,
You are right, with Trump the FED is more worried about inflation than previously. Other countries envy the US for their strong economy. The FED still has two rate cuts planned in 2025 despite Trump talking about a recession. Trump has to be careful and should stop playing his tariff games because that could wreck with the US economy.

I don’t agree with everything you wrote about Germany. Animosities between Russia and Germany did not exist for decades. My neighbors were from Russia and we were best friends. In fact, before Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia was one of Germany’s biggest trade partners. Just a few years ago Germany was totally reliant on Russian natural gas. Remember the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines? In 2019 Trump was against Nord Stream 2. These were his exact words: “Nord Stream 2 is a tool Russia is using to support its continued aggression against Ukraine. Russia seeks to prevent Ukraine from integrating more closely with Europe and the United States. Nord Stream 2 would enable Russia to bypass Ukraine for gas transit to Europe, which would deprive Ukraine of substantial transit revenues and increase its vulnerability to Russian aggression.” These were Trump’s words. Amazing. Marty, I'm sure you have a logical explanation why he doesn’t talk like that anymore.

But now, Trump actually wants to open Nord Stream 2. His new plan is to lift sanctions against Russia, Russia to agree through a US-led consortium to resume gas sales it cut off during the Ukraine war, and Germany to allow the gas to flow to any potential buyers in Europe. The plan would in theory give the US unparalleled sway over energy supplies to Europe. Trump will probably say that Russia will be dependable because trustworthy Americans are in the middle of it. America would collect money for nothing. Wasn't he against Russia bypassing Ukraine for gas transit to Europe?
That, my friend, is undoubtedly tainting the German view of Trump. Germans accept the 2% for NATO because that’s in the contract. For your information, Germany reached the 2% level under Biden, not Trump.

All the best - Robert