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By Sabine Siebold and Friederike Heine
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s ambassador to the United States has warned that the incoming Trump administration will rob US law enforcement and media of independence and give big tech companies “the power to control”, according to a confidential document seen by Reuters.
A short document, dated January 14 and signed by Ambassador Andreas Michaelis, describes Donald Trump’s plan for his second term in the White House as one of the “big obstacles” that will bring about “clarification the renewal of the constitutional order – more power with the President at the expense of Congress and the federal states.”
“Democratic principles and measures will be severely undermined, the legislature, law enforcement and media will be stripped of their independence and misused as a political arm, Big Tech will be empowered to to rule.”
Trump’s transition team had no immediate comment on the agent’s review.
Germany’s foreign ministry said that US voters elected Trump in a democratic election, and “will work closely with the new US administration for the benefit of Germany and Europe.”
Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has largely refrained from directly criticizing Trump since the election, but a secret analysis of the ambassador offers a clear view from a senior German official.
Ambassadors are not replaced by a new government, unless a change is deemed necessary for diplomatic or other reasons.
The document cites the judiciary, particularly the US Supreme Court, as central to Trump’s efforts to advance his agenda, but says that despite the court’s recent decision to expand the power of the president, “even the biggest critics think it will prevent the worst from happening. .”
Michaelis sees control of the Justice Department and FBI as key to Trump achieving his political and personal goals, including mass deportations, retaliation against perceived enemies and impunity.
He said that Trump has broad legal options to impose his plan on countries, saying that “even the deployment of the military inside the country for police operations is possible when declaring ‘rebellion’ and ‘attack’ .
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the state military from participating in local law enforcement, with some exceptions.
Michaelis also foresees a “new interpretation of the First Amendment,” saying that Trump and billionaire owner Elon Musk are already taking action against critics and uncooperative media companies.
“One uses lawsuits, threatening criminal prosecution and license revocation, the other uses algorithms and closed accounts,” he says in the document.
Musk’s repeated endorsement of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of national elections in Feb. 23 continued in Berlin, but the government stopped from his platform unanimously.
Berlin endured a particularly strained relationship with the United States during the first Trump administration, facing high tariffs and criticism over its failure to meet NATO targets on defense spending. .
