Germany and EU must defend world order as US won’t: German minister SWIPES at Trump

EUROPE must assume greater responsibility to defend a liberal, democratic world order as the United States appears increasingly less willing to do so, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the US won't defend world order

His comments chimed with remarks from German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said last month that Europe could no longer completely rely on its allies, pointing to bruising meetings of the G7 wealthy nations and NATO that were also attended by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Germany holds the presidency of the G20 leading economies, a platform Merkel wants to use to safeguard cooperation, now strained by Trump's decision to pull out of a landmark climate protection agreement.

Mr Schaeuble said at a ceremony where he was awarded the Henry A. Kissinger Prize by the former US secretary of state personally: "We have to improve our cooperation, we have to rely on our mutual trust.