When asked who posed the greatest threat to world peace, Germans in a recent poll overwhelmingly pointed to one person — Donald Trump. The US president beat out the leaders of North Korea, Russia, China and Iran.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Smialowski
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Although Washington is one of Germany's closest allies, public trust in the US has significantly eroded under President Donald Trump, a new YouGov survey showed.
Some 41% of Germans said they thought Trump was the most dangerous out of the five world leaders.
In second place was Kim with 17%, followed by Putin and Khamenei with 8%. Coming in last was China's Xi with 7%.
Over 2,000 people in Germany took part in the survey, which was commissioned by news agency dpa.
A similar YouGov poll was carried out in July last year, in which 48% of Germans surveyed said Trump was more dangerous than Kim and Putin. That poll, however, did not include the leaders of Iran or China.
Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
The US president has offered praise and dished out criticism of Germany. Whether describing the chancellor as "the greatest" or claiming Berlin owes "vast sums of money" to the US, here are his most memorable quotes.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
The good, the bad and the ugly
US President Donald Trump has offered both candid praise and unabashed criticism of Germany and its policies. From calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "possibly the greatest world leader" to describing her open-door refugee policy as a "catastrophic mistake," here are his most memorable quotes regarding Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
'Greatest'
"Germany's like sitting back silent, collecting money and making a fortune with probably the greatest leader in the world today, Merkel," Trump said in a 2015 interview with US news magazine Time.
Image: Picture alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
'Very bad'
"The Germans are bad, very bad ... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. Terrible. We'll stop that," Trump said during a NATO leaders summit, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which cited sources at the alliance's meeting.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/E. Vucci
'Something in common'
"As far as wiretapping, I guess, by - you know - [the Obama] administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said in March during a press conference with Merkel. He was referring to his unproven allegations that ex-President Barack Obama tapped his phone. There was widespread anger in Germany in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency tapped Merkel's phone.
Image: Picture alliance/R. Sachs/CNP
'Illegals'
"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals (sic), you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said in a joint interview published by German daily Bild and British newspaper The Times, referring to Merkel's open-door policy for refugees fleeing war and persecution.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
'Germany owes vast sums of money'
"Despite what you have heard from the fake news, I had a great meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany," Trump said in a two-tweet statement after meeting with Merkel for the first time in March 2017.
Image: Picture alliance/dpa/L. Mirgeler
'Turning their backs'
"The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition," Trump tweeted in the midst of a row within the German goverment. He went on to claim that: "Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"
Image: AFP/Getty Images/L. Marin
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Macron trusted more than Merkel
A separate year-end poll showed that public trust in German Chancellor Angela Merkel had also diminished at home, particularly when compared to other European leaders.
According to a poll carried out by the Kantar institute for the Funke media group, 57% of Germans surveyed said they had a "rather high" level of trust in French President Emmanuel Macron.
Merkel, on the other hand, came in several points behind the French leader at 53%.
The differences were even more pronounced on the other end of the scale, with 44% of Germans surveyed saying they had "very little" trust in Merkel, compared to 32% for Macron.
In that poll, Trump came in last as the least trustworthy leader (89% very little trust), behind Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (86%) and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (71%). Developments in all three NATO allies since around 2016 have gained considerable media attention in Germany.
