“You believe in things like we’re not going to frack, we’re not going to take fossil fuel, we’re not going to do things that are going to be strong, whether you like it or not,” Trump said. “Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants.”
The day after the debate, Germany’s foreign office put out a statement asserting that “Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50 percent renewables.” It added that the country was shutting down, not building, coal and nuclear plants.
“If my country is being presented as something which is just wrong, then it’s a responsibility of the foreign office to say: Sorry, but this is not how the situation in our country is,” Baerbock told Bloomberg.
The German government has been walking an awkward diplomatic tightrope since Trump emerged as the frontrunner in the U.S. presidential race and then official candidate for the Republican Party in the November elections. Over the years, Trump has repeatedly criticized Berlin for its dependence on Russian gas and skimping on NATO-mandated defense spending increases, something Berlin has sought — slowly — to remedy.