“Trump uses methods like the Wild West.” The German press comments on events in the USA

The killing of a woman in Minnesota by an ICE immigration officer and the claims made by the US against Greenland are the main topic of commentary in the German press. American President Donald Trump uses methods like the Wild West – says one of the newspapers.

The events in Minnesota are not an accident

According to the weekly Die Zeit, the deadly confrontation in Minneapolis is “another flashpoint in the red-hot political atmosphere in the US.” Trump has given ICE “unprecedented authority that exceeds the authority of all other executive offices.”

The shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three children and a US citizen, by a unit of “unsupervised Trumpist state power” is not a tragic accident but “a predictable consequence of a policy seeking escalation and based on the principle that everything that serves the president's power is lawful,” Die Zeit concludes.

“Anyone with two eyes and a brain can see (in the witness recordings showing the woman being shot – PAP) that Good is not trying to run over the policeman (with his car – PAP), but wants to avoid him. The argument that he shot in self-defense is (…) a pure lie,” writes “Tageszeitung”.

A test for Trumpists

Video recording and reactions to it are “a test for Trump supporters whether they are able to swallow the government's official interpretation despite their senses”. “Can they look at a cold-blooded murder and still believe that Renee Good is a terrorist?” – asks the newspaper. As he emphasizes, many indications indicate that Trump and his supporters will lose this battle in the propaganda war. Even Trump's supporters are concerned about this situation, he says.

Many supporters of the pro-Trump MAGA movement enjoy the violence and cruelty, but what they mean is “controlled violence” that hits bad criminals. A demonstration of “naked brutality” can help – at least those who are still able to feel – understand the injustice of the system. This is an injustice that not only affects individual people, but also targets entire towns and communities, which “terrorizes and kills friends and neighbors,” we read in “Tageszeitung.”

Violence resonates in the US

The daily Frankfurter Rundschau writes that “the violence in Trump's speeches resonates in the brutal actions of ICE officers.” “The fatal shots of masked officers in Minneapolis, fired without hesitation or warning and not in self-defense, (…) can be compared to the verbal attacks of a leading Republican (i.e. Trump – PAP) who shoots from the hip,” he adds, emphasizing that “Wild West-like methods are being used more and more often, both in geopolitics and on the streets of the USA.”

“FR” accuses Trump of waging a “hunt” against the victim and defaming her. The president presented a “false picture.” In fact, “a citizen and mother protested against the harm inflicted by ICE and became a victim of excessive state violence.” Trump is using the situation to inflame the conflict, we read in the conclusion.

“Trump has reached the apogee of his presidency”

For “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” the recent events in the USA have become a pretext to take a broader look at Trump's actions. According to the newspaper, Trump has reached “the apogee of his presidency”: “he controls domestic and foreign policy like few of his predecessors and can implement his program almost without any obstacles.”

Trump's predecessors took weeks to accomplish as much as the current president does in one day – says the daily's commentator, mentioning: the announcement that the US will exercise control over Venezuela, the takeover of Venezuelan oil production, the termination of international agreements, the detention of a Russian tanker and the agreement with the president of Colombia.

Trump's successes are primarily due to the weaknesses of his opponents – evaluates “FAZ”. Bush's former supporters currently have nothing to say in his party, and the Democrats not only suffered an electoral defeat in 2024, but also caused the collapse of the long ideological dominance of the left.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is stuck in Ukraine, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping is struggling economically. European countries dropped out of the game at their own will, disarming and pursuing erroneous economic policies – says “FAZ”. According to the newspaper, Trump “lives in an ideal world for a man of power” because “he has the instruments of the still strongest economic and military power at his disposal and he is not afraid to use these instruments.”

According to “FAZ”, Trump's successes will not necessarily be eternal, because two issues are beyond his control – he does not have the support of the majority of the American society, in which the justice system and the media still perform their functions, and China remains a “structurally strong rival”. The assessment of his presidency is not yet complete – we read in the conclusion of the commentary in “FAZ”.

Jacek Lepiarz (PAP)

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