Trump's trade tactics spark fears of financial fallout
Amid recent events, Donald Trump and his entourage have apparently become very wealthy, according to the German press. "To the autocratic ambitions come kleptocratic ones," emphasize the media across the Oder River.
The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung refers to the deteriorating trade relations between the USA and China, noting that rationality is currently a scarce commodity in both Washington and Beijing.
"In their escalation, both presidents have raised tariffs on bilateral trade to over 100% within just a few days. This is clearly about a power struggle in which one side wants to harm the other," writes the newspaper.
It adds that when two of the three largest economic powers on this planet—America and China—"shoot themselves in the foot on economic issues," the question arises whether the European Union, as the third economic power, can benefit from this. "The European Union would do well not to add fuel to the fire, but also not to agree to everything and should aim for a noticeable reduction of tariffs and other barriers in trade talks," we read.
"Kleptocratic ambitions"
"The US president has also been inundating the world with attacks on the world order and the economy this week. In this whirl of events, one serious suspicion cannot be lost: that Trump and his entourage have apparently enriched themselves significantly," writes Frankfurter Rundschau.
"This is an alarm signal for American democracy. To the autocratic ambitions come kleptocratic ones," it adds.
The daily recalls that on April 9, shortly before the stock market race following his reversal on tariffs, Trump wrote on his platform: "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT".
His initials "DJT" (unusual in his posts) also correspond to the stock exchange abbreviation of his media company. Democrats see this as a manipulative call for the deliberate purchase of Trump stocks.
"Autocracies are often characterized by the systematic impunity of the power elite," notes the commentator, adding that it is to be feared that the United States is not far from this.
"On the brink of financial crisis"
The policy of US President Donald Trump and the trade war are also topics of commentary in the regional press.
Bavarian Münchner Merkur asks, "Is another disaster brewing after the stock market crash?"
"Alarm signals are increasing: the sell-off on the American bond market, triggered by the US president's tariff policy, has recently accelerated. The USA is on the brink of a financial crisis due to Trump's policies. The sorcerer's apprentice Trump, in an act of desperation, tried to break the chain reaction he had set off by imposing a tariff moratorium. But that wasn't enough for the markets. When the core begins to melt, it's very difficult to stop it," we read.
The regional newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, commenting on the first 100 days of Trump's second presidency, writes that "he attacks the status quo."
"He wants to undermine the foundations of liberal democracy, challenge global orders, and reshape domestic structures to his advantage. He may partially succeed in this. But it was this destructive impulse that sharpened many people's sense of what is essential: the need for political compromise, the principle of speech and opposition, the fight for balance. Trump wanted to shake the world, but ultimately he invigorated it."
