BERLIN — Foreign leaders often feign indifference toward changes in American governments. But during his two-day visit to Germany’s capital, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s swooning hosts did little to disguise their relief over the end of the Trump era and the rejuvenation of American ties with Germany.
Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, was practically gushing at a joint appearance with his counterpart at a chic Berlin beer garden Thursday, recalling his first conversation with Mr. Blinken after he became secretary of state.
“At the end of the telephone call,” he said, “I couldn’t help myself by saying, ‘Tony, I still have to get used to the fact that I can speak to the American foreign secretary and always be of the same view — because that used to be different beforehand.’”
Germany, Mr. Maas said, is “very happy that the United States is now back on our side again.” Then, after explaining the global import of that shift, Mr. Maas, a tall glass of beer before him, paused.
“It’s more fun, too,” he added.
A day earlier, standing beside Mr. Blinken, Germany’s departing chancellor, Angela Merkel, also sounded plainly relieved.
“We are delighted that the American states, in order to quote the American President Joe Biden, are back again on the international, multilateral scene,” Ms. Merkel said. She and President Biden, she said, have been able to “agree on a common approach, to global problems.”
That was rarely the case for Germany when it came to President Donald J. Trump.
And so Mr. Blinken’s visit underscored German happiness at the departure of an American president who took an antagonistic approach to Germany, a European economic powerhouse and key NATO ally, calling it an economic competitor and free-rider under America’s defense umbrella. After the resignation of Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, one member of Ms. Merkel’s party even said that Mr. Grenell had acted like “the representative of a hostile power.”
Mr. Blinken made clear that those days are over.
“I think it’s fair to say that the United States has no better partner, no better friend in the world than Germany,” he told Mr. Maas during a joint appearance at Germany’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, words that were met in Berlin with a mixture of delight and pride.
Mr. Blinken’s visit followed by several days President Biden’s first trip to Europe as president, during which he proclaimed the return of America’s traditional trans-Atlantic leadership role. Mr. Biden’s itinerary did not include Germany, but he met twice with Ms. Merkel at gatherings of European leaders, and plans to host Ms. Merkel at the White House next month.
“The new American government has extended a hand, and we should grasp it,” Germany’s economics minister, Peter Altmaier, said before departing on a visit to…
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