A Comparative Study Of The Policies Of The Obama And Trump Administrations On Germany

Trump’s election brings uncertainty to the direction of U.S.policy toward Germany.As a political leader,Trump has shown great uniqueness in both personality traits and decision-making preferences.On the basis of constructing a comparative analysis framework of the Obama and Trump administration’s German policy,this article compares the four dimensions of the Obama and Trump administration’s German policy,including goals,means,style,and philosophy,to summary and describe the continuity and change of the Obama and Trump administration’s German policy.Through analysis of structural factors such as the international system structure,bilateral interdependence,and foreign policy-making mechanisms that affect US policy-making on Germany,the reasons for the continuity of the goals and methods of the two governments in Germany are explained.The differences between the Obama and Trump administration ’s German policies are mainly in style and philosophy.These changes cannot be explained and analyzed only from the perspective of structural factor.Therefore,this article uses a micro-level psychological perspective.The leaders’ political belief system are explored to analyze the reasons for the changes in the style and philosophy of the Obama and Trump administration policies toward German.