I mean, you do have a lunatic in 
the White House.
And you can quote me on that.
Welcome to Berlin.
 I'm standing here  in front of the
Brandenburg Gate.
Following the defeat of the Third Reich,
the U.S. played a pivotal role in
rebuilding West Germany
and acting as a primary driver in its
reunification with East Germany.
Experiences with dictatorship forged
a deep admiration for democracy,
as well as a close partnership with the U.S.
However, with President Trump openly
questioning that alliance,
Germans have had to rethink not only
their relationship with the U.S.
but their place in the world.
We wanted to know what Germans thought
of American-style democracy,
so we decided to ask them.
Taking aside for a minute the
current president...
That's really hard.
What are some of the first words you think of
when you think about American democracy?
Before Trump, we were like idolizing...
Now, it's like...
Oh...
Ah-ha...
Every kind of perception about America
is colored by Trump and the
Trump Administration.
It's 100% negative.
Nobody, not even our right wing populists,
want to be identified with that man.
Most Germans would probably think
what is going on in the U.S.
is very dangerous.
You need to know
that Germany has been there.
The Nazis were the who that said that,
"The press lies."
"The press is bought by foreign agents."
So many of those things that we
now hear in the U.S. sound
eerily familiar.
The Germany government
cannot rely on the U.S.
because they cannot make
credible commitments.
A tweet can cancel an entire agreement.
President Trump is, at least, backed by
40% of the population.
It's not only him, but it's the Bible Belt.
Let's say it like this. Yeah?
The German experience of American politics
is, overall, a very positive one.
This country owes very much of what it is
and its political system to the U.S.
The Americans
liberated us from the Nazis.
And the American solidarity
with divided Germany
is deeply enshrined in the German
perception of the U.S.
In school we always learn,
"America is freedom."
In general, it's a good thing for Germany
that we had American on our side.
I think we wouldn't be such a wealthy
country if the States wouldn't like...
feel like the peacekeepers, and the...
like the health insurance of the world.
But I think they're just taking a role
that no one asked them to take.
You know, my first political activity was
demonstration against the Vietnam War.
Vietnam made Germans realize that
American power...
might not be as benign,
after all.
It's deep in the German thinking,
"Oh, these bad Americans! They are
the police everywhere."
On the other hand, we are very happy
that the Americans and all these partners
have these secret services,
and they solve the problems in the world.
It's actually easier for Germany
to work on its soft power
than it is for the U.S. because the U.S. has to
act where others don't act.
I think the outcomes were not always
right and good.
But now we see they don't want to take
this responsibility anymore.
And that's really a huge problem.
And we have to see, in our global system,
who wants to take this responsibility.
Who has really stepped into the void
are countries that we...
 wonder, right?
So, Russia.
China is investing.
I think when you look at countries, such as China,
they're changing so rapidly.
So, so fastly.
And then I see the U.S,. at the moment,
and it's only backward.
Germans perceive
this enormous inequality in the U.S.
People, they are suffering 
a lot more than before.
You know?
I think they're missing the point
of democracy.
Right?
That everyone gets to take a part in it.
In the U.S. context, welfare state and
these things are about compassion.
In the German context,
this is about rights.
I had a few students at home —
American students.
and it was so interesting to hear that
they were so astonished to see
how good we live here.
For Germans coming to the U.S. —
walking around New York, Washington —
it is very hard
to see these homeless pretty much
everywhere on the street.
And irrespective of where you are.
The way the American political
system is set up
makes it very difficult to address
these problems.
But...
it is only the way it has developed
over the last few decades.
 Because it used to be different.
The American people are
much better than
the political system they have
at the moment.
