Trump is the Enemy!

The following video shows the reaction of Robert Habeck, the co-chair of Alliance ’90/The Greens in Germany, to climate-related remarks made by Donald Trump at the elite confab in Davos.


Video transcript:

00:00   Who am I talking to? —ZDF. —Oh, OK. Yes. —I’m not doing this for Instagram. —Yeah, OK.
00:04   So, you heard the speech (by President Trump). —Yes, I heard the speech. And if the question is,
00:10   “How was it?” He’s completely mistaken, not just a little and not even polite about it.
00:16   Basically, it was an absolute disaster and I’m just stunned.
00:22   Really. How he exaggerated.
00:27   I think he’s the only one who hasn’t understood it. —You seem a bit speechless.
00:35   Yes, I thought even though he has a completely different opinion, he would at least approach the
00:39   motto or the spirit, out of politeness. It was just about self-praise,
00:43   ignorance and a total disregard
00:47   for everyone else. No feeling for or awareness of global problems.
00:53   It was the worst speech I’ve heard in my life.
00:57   For Davos it is a setback. —One couldn’t even imagine
01:03   that the “tender shoot” here in Davos would try sustainability
01:07   or sustainable thinking. It is something new for Davos.
01:10   No one expected Trump to be an ally in that respect, but he’s not only not an ally, he’s the enemy.
01:17   He’s the enemy. He represents all the problems that we have and that needs to be addressed
01:22   by the people who organize this event, and not just suck up to him, after such a speech.
01:27   Do you still have hope for Davos? —Yes. Actually, yes,
01:31   because the discussions we’ve had, our conversations
01:35   about sustainability, that’s all good. The many companies
01:39   and businesses here, the politicians are thinking
01:44   about how to move forward and the only question was,
01:48   will the economic system we’ve had up until now,
01:52   with slight changes, be able to make the turnaround. Or do we need to completely change the system?
01:56   That means, leaving the system completely. Breaking new ground. That would be my answer.
02:00   It’s the more radical solution, but up until now we couldn’t have even had that conversation.
02:06   And now someone like him comes along, and says we’re going to keep doing things as always
02:10   and even more than before. So, well, ignorance isn’t even the correct term for that.

24 thoughts on “Trump is the Enemy!

  1. Notwithstanding the wrongness of Habeck as Greens leader ,especially in respect of homoglobalist open borders, it is just not true that he describes Trump as the “enemy”.

    This is a mistranslation that does GoV no credit and exposes GoV’s flank.

    Becauses he uses the German word “Gegner”. This means “opponent”, for example, it is often used to describe the other team in a football match.

    If Habeck had indeed described Trump as FEIND (enemy) and not GEGNER my estimate is that it would have caused an international incident and maybe calls from Merkel’s party, the traditional US sycophants par excellence, for him to resign.

    There will be those at GoV who cannot see the difference between calling somebody an opponent and calling him the enemy; so much the worse for them.

    • Reconquista,

      What I’ve noticed in your comments here over the years is that you never come to praise or agree or even say something slightly positive.

      You never say, “Well done, Miss Piggy. Thank you for all the hard work that you do day after day, without any pay.”

      You never say to other commenters, “I agree with your point, and it is well-put.”

      You never say, “I’m grateful to Vlad Tepes for his tireless efforts at editing and subtitling videos.”

      No, you come to cavil, and nit-pick, and snark, and quibble, and disparage, and display your superior knowledge. No one knows as much about the topic at hand as you do.

      Well… I’m sure I don’t, anyway. You know a heck of a lot more than I do.

      But I do know that Vlad and Miss Piggy work long, hard hours in a difficult job to produce the results that you so casually dismiss. I know that they work without pay, for no reward other than the satisfaction of seeing the completion of what they consider an important job.

      Since you won’t do it, I will: Thank you, Miss Piggy, and thank you, Vlad, for the incredible job that you do. Despite all appearances, some of us appreciate it.

      • Baron, Go back and check that I thanked Miss Piggy just recently before commenting on a mistranslation relating to the difference between FIGHT and DISPUTE, SQUABBLE; Lavinia backed me up on that.

        I also make a point of indicating appreciation of unpaid work, read back in your archive.

        So check what I actually say ahead of making such statements about alleged ingratitude.

        You raise a second point, that I am supposed to agree with GoV contributors and say so in writing (which contributor would you suggest?).

        Given that it is the self-styled (Regressive) Left that is deplatforming us these days for lack of conformity, I find this a strange stance.

        The predominant (Bracken-Geller-Steyn-Phillips-Spencer?) belief at GoV seems to be that Islam, unprovoked and in a way unrelated to anything that happened before Khomeini, is looking to take over the world; its useful idiots in the West are anti semitic Communists who hide under various aliases so as to achieve Communism, not realising in their boundless Communistic stupidity that their Islamic allies will cut their heads off in advance of that.

        The solution to all this is said to be (specifically US ) Ayn Rand -type libertarianism, once everyone has locked n’ loaded for bear. Europeans get regularly enjoined from within the USA to get hold of firearms.

        For various reasons I depart from that analysis and say so; GoV readers tend not to want to read the business/finance pages and as they have a strong attachment to their notions of the free market, they do not want to see what is driving current trends.

        Lastly, I would say that GoV cannot afford to mistranslate.

        You might retort that you do not care what the Regressive Left thinks of you and GoV, hence whether some German Green is wrongly translated as calling Trump the enemy or (correctly) the opponent is irrelevant.

        Well, wait and see; the history of such matters ( Pres. Jimmy Carter mistranslated on arrival in Poland as having “lust” for the Polish people) indicates you may get some nasty surprises.

        • “Lastly, I would say that GoV cannot afford to mistranslate. …you may get some nasty surprises.” – Reconquista

          Wow! You actually wrote that too. I don’t know Baron Bodissey. As for myself I’d have to say what my Dad told a socialist union member who made a veiled threat against his family a few decades ago…

          You’d better hope and pray that nobody acts on that idea. Because it would all come back as you being the originator who made the confession before someone acted on it.

          Sort of like the programmers, the handlers in the “official” media making suggestions to people about what should happen to their gegners. Because your gegners are reading things into what Reconquista is suggesting.

      • Dear Baron, I have not kept track of compensating thank-you notes but I’m afraid he is correct on this one. I have myself on one or two occasions reacted to misleading translations from German and later regretted not having found a proper way to mitigate the emotional side effects of such criticism on passionate individuals like we are. Those are of course totally not intended but possibly inevitable, if only because of our imperfection. But much more important is the task at hand, namely getting truth out into the world and we can’t have mistakes standing uncorrected. We are so closely related, the German and the English speaking ones, yet communication is laden with so many pitfalls it keeps amazing me. Thank you all for your hard work, and, having tried my hand as well, I know specifically the German translators around here are better than I am.

    • So much the worse for them? So this is an “us and them” thing to you. As per the usual too. But the context is king here. Everyone at “GoV” as you put it, or the readers and supporters of the Gates of Vienna fully understand the context of the words being used no matter which language on the planet is being used. So the context of not being an “ally” is being an “enemy”.

      The definition of the Collins Dictionary provides three contextual options of gegner being that of rival, opponent, and enemy. Now everyone can play along here. Is it ally and opponent? No. Is it ally and rival? No. Or is it most correctly, and it is, ally and enemy? Such an easy and fitting distinction isn’t it? I mean when you actually think and reason about the context of what a German Socialist means in describing his relationship with the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump. Easy peasy lemon squeezy? Quite so. Yes. Thank you once again for providing us your “flank” as it were.

    • For your information, me being Dutch I am thoroughly familiar with the German language.

      The one and only authoritative German dictionary is Duden.
      Duden says about “Gegner”;
      Geg­ner-Substantiv, maskulin – a. jemand, der gegen eine Person … b. Einzelspieler, -läufer o. Ä. als … c. Feind

      Miss Piggy chose definition c. Feind, meaning enemy.
      In the German language Gegner and Feind are interchangeble.
      So Miss Piggy was right.

        • That article only confirms that the Green party walks on the fine line between one or the other, but mostly acts like an enemy. With a co-chairman that thinks that communist China has the best form of government because people have less say in the matter of “governing”, doesn’t sound like someone who has the general public best interest at heart.

          The article concludes the following : “This is the core of the irreconcilability between two camps, which is becoming increasingly visible not only in Germany. The front line runs between Paris and the periphery (France), coast and flyover states (USA), Greens and AfD, and the questions that arise along it can no longer be answered with a maybe, but only with yes or no.

          Yes or no means: for or against the people. “Against the people” is not something we can live with. ////This is then the moment when a political opponent becomes an ideological ENEMY./// (my emphasis) The green milieu has long since treated us as an enemy and no longer as a political opponent, and it takes a great deal of generosity and patience to see in these people still opponents, not enemies.”

          I think Robert Habeck used the word Gegner and meant enemy, because Trump and the people who share his world view are the enemy to his (their) plans. The article is posing the question because the Green/Left/Progressives/Globalist/etc. blur the line between the two. Pretending to be “opponents” but acting like an enemy. The article also helps distinguish between the two: “This is then the moment when a political opponent becomes an ideological enemy.”

          So in that context and in the context it was used by Mr Future Eco-Dictator of Germany, “Gegner” means enemy.

          BTW this was making all the debate shows yesterday and no one was even mentioning the fact that he called Trump “Gegner”. Just like the MSM in the U.S., they (German media) already see Trump as their enemy and are no longer objective. So it is understood that he is all their enemy. And WE ALL KNOW IT.

          • “it takes a great deal of generosity and patience to see in these people still opponents, not enemies.” —

            Obviously I have neither. I call a spade a spade, just like Trump and if you don’t like it. THAT’S YOUR PROBLEM.

            I have 4 investments in the future of this planet and I certainly don’t want my 4 children growing up under Eco-communism or anything like it.

            While you are splitting hairs about semantics, I’m doing something to make sure they have freedom in the future. Enough navel gazing. Pick a side or get out of the fight.

            Pig out.

      • @Arthur: beyond risible.”Veiled threat”? Ask the translator of Jimmy Carter, the poor fellow got dismissed I believe.

        FYI, GoV gets monitored by the Regressive Left as you can see in their publications. They have a vested interest in discrediting GoV where they can, and mistranslation is golden opportunity for a nasty surprise consisting of an article or blog entry against GoV. That is the open flank.

        @ Copywriter: I do like the notion that Netherlands people are thoroughly familiar with German:-)

        And any given speaker of an Germanic language as they have developed since Old Norse knows all others, correct? So you are equally at home in Norwegian and Swedish and Danish?

        Duden has to be brief, especially for persons pushing their own barrow:-)),so check out Wiki:

        “Mit dem Begriff des Gegners wird mehr das sachliche Verhältnis zu einer Person/Personengruppe und nicht vorrangig die emotionale Komponente beschrieben – im Unterschied zum Begriff des Feindes”

        So Habeck was trying to keep things factual as regards Trump and not emotional by using “opponent” and GoV emotionalised what he actually said with “enemy”

        • “I do like the notion that Netherlands people are thoroughly familiar with German”

          I never said that.
          I said that I am thoroughly familiar.
          I can’t speak for the remaining 17.18 million people here.
          Due to the close proximity of Germany (a 15 min. car drive away) I have been immersed in German language and culture from childhood on, including all the nuances.


          This of course is nonsense and you know it.
          I have never lived in close proximity to those languages.

          “Duden has to be brief.”
          No it does not. Like any good dictionary Duden is as brief or long winded as it needs to be.
          And I certainly wouldn’t quote Wiki as an “authoritative” source.

          I agree with you on one thing though, nuance is everything.
          The Greens made it very clear, over the years they hate Trump. The don’t dislike him or disagree with him no they hate him with all their might. Pure hatred.
          They hate him for what he stands for, they hate his unpredictability.
          This hate justifies Miss Piggy’s choice for the somewhat militaristic translation of “enemy”.

          • @Copywriter: Bizarre. Personally I have no doubt that Habeck hates Trump and sees him as the enemy.

            However, what people think and what they say for strategic reasons are often different.

            Or do I imagine that you and Miss Piggy never ever phrase your words carefully when in a situation where you might offend?

            Or where you might lose more by bluntness than you hope to gain long-term by being diplomatic?

            So it is not the job of the translator to second-guess source text, in this case Habeck’s utterance of the word GEGNER.

            Read the accurate comments by Ludwig and “K” from Germany on this thread.

            As I already said, Habeck now has a voter base with many ex-CDU voters in it who have always been fanatically pro-US. He is an elected politician of a party that is quite close to Clinton et. al; the Greens are notable war-mongers and Russophobes. He is not about to called Trump ENEMY.

            The USA has military plus nuclear weapons plus CIA plus a big State Dept. “hub” on German soil.

            Notwithstanding my gratitude for her ongoing work, Miss Piggy’s statement at 9.30 am on Jan 23 on this thread about “splitting hairs about semantics” is thus highly unfortunate to put it mildly. I already wrote about the strong reaction of the German govt. to Habeck even using the word GEGNER.

      • @Copywriter: The Translatlantic Coordinator of the German Fed Govt. just proved my point about “enemy”. This CDU man gets very cross about Habeck having even called Trump GEGNER, opponent, never mind how he would have reacted if Habeck had said FEIND, enemy.

        “Die in Teilen antiamerikanische Kritik von Herrn Habeck ist dumm und irritiert mich.” Weiter sagte Beyer, dass Trump nicht der “Gegner” sei: “Das ist völlig unangemessen. Wer so redet, schadet der lang gewachsenen deutsch-amerikanischen Freundschaft, ist offensichtlich geschichtsvergessen und hat vor allem nicht das Format, unser Land in die Zukunft zu führen.”

        • 01:10 “No one expected Trump to be an ally in that respect, but he’s not only not an ally, he’s the enemy.”

          The context being ally and enemy. Alliierten and Gegner. Friend or foe. If you’re not an ally then you’re an enemy. The opposition in that context is an enemy group or individual. A political enemy. That is the contextual translation in modern English.

          It is the context here between the allies of The Greens Habeck of Germany to Trump and when you see the kind of violence being acted upon by political enemies then enemies is the appropriate translation. Ende der diskussion.

          • @Arthur: you prattle about “context” from start to finish. Go off and do Linguistics 101, there you will learn the difference between denotation and connotation.

            This is because Habeck is a senior politician talking to German nationwide TV, ZDF.

            He is not about to call the President of the USA the emotionally-connoted term FEIND, that conveying a highly hostile attitude. Instead. he focuses on the factual differences between himself and Trump and says GEGNER, which connotes nothing but denotes mere opposition

            This will (also) be because he is a politician wanted to get re-elected and with the Greens at around 20%, he knows very well that part of his base now is ex-CDU voters who worship the ground the USA walks on.

            In the unlikely event you comprehend any German, read the useful link at offered by Ludwig here at 5.15pm

          • Oh, now context is just prattle. Context is meaningless to you for sure. Friend or foe. Ally or enemy. Alliierten and Gegner. The fact is undeniable and irrefutable.

            You can continue to go on with your own version of linguistic sophistry all you want. Belittle and talk down to all you want about the class of readers at GoV too. All are characteristics of someone who has lost the debate here in the US.

            You can convince your politically correct European Union crowd for all it’s worth. It’s worth spit here where I live. The translation from the German to the American is correct. So go on and get the last word in. Go ahead…

  2. This is beyond grotesque; As a businessman, Trump has led the corporation that created thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of wealth. As the US President he leads the country that created millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of wealth.
    How many jobs and how much wealth has this ridiculous eco-fascist hack created?
    Most probably, he has NEVER worked a single wealth or job creating day in his worthless life.

  3. This Greens are the worst party in Germany, very evil , they want whole Africa, and all this “ unaccompanied children take from the camps in Greece “, very dangerous and unpredictable, very popular by this stupid youngsters generation, brainwashed, “Friday’s for future “ [excremental] propaganda, …

  4. The Greens have made major gains in Germany, this confirms the brainwashing is working. What was interesting is not that he called Trump an “Opponent” or the “Opposition”, it was that he talked about tearing down the current system and replacing it with (??)….what do you think he’s talking about replacing it with? Communism. The Greens are absolute communist, don’t be fooled, the environment is only a vehicle to get to a EUSSR.

    • they want to turn the EU into a 1950’s China, everyone will ride bicycles, eat vegetables, and have no power. I mean electricity.

  5. This is really bizarre, but nothing one couldn’t have expected from Habeck. In an interview a few months ago, he seemed to insinuate that he felt some sympathies for the current Chinese system (in the end that was only a misunderstanding on the part of his opponents, mind you…).

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