I apologize for my absence the past few months things on the home front have been quite chaotic and exciting. I have important news to share since my last post, I have secured a publisher for both the English and German editions of the manuscript as well as a job change for my husband which will result in a move from our small Bavarian city to the international capital of Berlin. More on those exciting changes in a minute, I wanted to reflect quickly on the changes on the United States on the global scene.

This past weekend in Cornwall, (southeastern part of England) the G7 leaders met for their annual summit. Last year it was the United States turn to host the summit, but for a variety of reasons it did not happen. The most obvious of course was the pandemic. Many thought people traveling across the world to meet in person was careless amid the pandemic. However, there were some other factors that precluded the in-person summit as well. I cannot believe I forgot about this, (until Rachel Maddow discussed it) but Trump aggressively lobbied to have the event at his own personal property in Florida. He eventually relented after the backlash, but nevertheless it was quite the scene as he attempted to justify why that was such a good idea. In the end, his aides finally convinced him his estate was not a good idea. However, my personal favorite story that came from the G7 was when the media reported that Chancellor Merkel had told French president Macron she did not want to attend because she “didn’t want to be in the same room “with Trump. At the time, I was finishing the last update to my manuscript which included a discussion on the pandemic. I had just sent the latest version to my publicist the night before when I saw this news, but the story I believed, was important enough that for the umpteenth time I modified the afterward to my manuscript to include this heartbreaking story. One of our closest allies did not want to travel to the United States in part, because she did not want to be in the same room as the US president.

On Friday, Facebook reminded me of a memory from exactly 3 years ago (June 11, 2018) of a memory—I dusted off my French and wrote an apology letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for how the US “president” behaved. What happened during those challenging days leading up to that event? For starters, forget that meeting where prior to even getting onto Airforce Once, Trump told reporters that he believed the other heads of state had been wrong to oust Putin, and he would lobby to have Putin reinstated. Then of course there was the time he insulted Trudeau when he referred to him as “weak and mild” then the temper tantrum he had about signing onto the joint communiqué (which he ultimately withdraw support from) or my personal favorite– the instance end when Trump took 2 pieces of Starburst candy out of his pocket and throw it across the table at Chancellor Merkel. Trump ultimately left the summit with allied leaders to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. In that apology letter I sent to Trudeau I reminded him that the so-called president did not speak on behalf of Americans, and a majority of us were horrified at Trump’s behavior.

Over the weekend multiple photos of Biden various world leaders (Macron, Merkel, Johnson, and Queen Elizabeth) and the vibe was quite different than in photos from most recent years. On Saturday, Biden and Merkel had their first bilateral meeting where Merkel characterized Biden has brought “new momentum” to the world stage. As always, we will never know what happened behind closed doors, but if the photo is an indication, this will be the first time in 4 years following a meeting of world leaders, I don’t feel the need to write an apology letter on behalf of the president. It is reported that over the weekend, Biden extended an invitation to Merkel to Washington— her July 15th visit will make her the first European leader to visit Biden in an official capacity. Biden and Merkel had worked together when Biden served as Obama’s vice president, so they are familiar with one another. However, with Merkel stepping down in September, it is unlikely she and Biden will form the same partnership she and Obama did. Moreover, while the world remains optimistic that the US is on the right path and are more than a little relieved that Trump is gone, I think it is safe to say it is too soon for anyone to completely trust the US again. Trump did a lot of damage on the international stage with our allies, and it is going to take more than a single meeting/summit to repair the damage. However, I think it is safe to say it is a much-needed start.

On a personal note, as I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, after years of waiting, I have found a publisher for my book about the partnership between Obama and Merkel. We did a title change and cover change, but same, albeit much improved manuscript. The new title is Dear Barack: The extraordinary partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel. The book will be published by Disruption Books and will be available October 19th—presales should be available soon. The German version entitled: Lieber Barack: Die außergewöhnliche Partnerschaft zwischen Angela Merkel und Barack Obama. That edition will be published by Novum Verlag and is set to come out September 14th. Stay tuned for additional updates.

Finally, for a variety of reasons—most of which practicality at the end of this month my husband and our2 dogs are set to relocate from our city in Bavaria to the beautiful and vibrant capital of Berlin. We are excited for the change but will be sad to leave Bavaria behind—it is an extremely beautiful area. Hence, the next post I will be writing from our new home in the Lichtenrade part of Berlin.