How To Not Say Hello To Germany

Richard Grenell, sitting down to his new job as Ambassador to Germany for the first time, decided he would send out a message to say hello. You know, get to know the neighbors, that sort of thing.

So Richard goes on Twitter (which is what you do these days) with the following message

As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) May 8, 2018

Spoiler alert: this did not go over very well. 

Angela Merkel of Germany was part of the litany of voices speaking out against Li’l Donnie’s decision to violate the Iran nuclear deal. So this punk ass ambassador, barely on the job a few hours, decides to tell Germany what to do in response to an action they do not agree with made by a moron they don’t like?

“German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”

That is not a suggestion. That is not a recommendation. That is a warning. That is a threat. 

As Andrea Nahles, the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, put it: “It’s not up to me to teach the U.S. ambassador how to be diplomatic, but he does seem to need a bit of tutoring.”

Translation: “Fuck you, Richard Grenell.”   

Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference and a former German ambassador to the U.S. had this advice for the new ambassador: “Explain your own country’s policies and lobby the host country — but never tell the host country what to do, if you want to stay out of trouble. Germans are eager to listen, but they will resent instructions.”

Translation: “Fuck you, Richard Grenell.”   

Yes, that's a map of Germany and that's "Fuck you" in German. 

OK, so Grenell defends his comments, saying he used “the exact language sent out from the White House talking points & fact sheet.”

Yes, this idiot is defending himself to Germans with essentially “I was just following orders.”

A nation that is very much aware of it’s dark history under the Nazis who justified war, torture and genocide with “I was just following orders.” Yeah, good one, Dick!

And you’re saying this tone deaf demand, this warning, this threat came from the boss? 

Let me imagine Germany’s response to that.  

“Fuck you, Li’l Donnie Trump.”