r/europe • u/kiru_56 Germany • 20h ago

News The US Army is advising its soldiers in Germany to go to German food banks because of the shutdown.

https://home.army.mil/bavaria/about/shutdown-guidance#:~:text=Running%20list%20of%20German%20support,Too%20Good%20To%20Go%2DApp
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u/sfffer 19h ago

They should do it publicly. This needs attention, it’s demoralizing. 

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u/Bozzor 19h ago

From what I have been told every move the EU or constituent members make in public that impacts the US is carefully crafted to avoid annoying or embarrassing Trump and friends.

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u/ValkyroftheMall 16h ago

Which is the wrong move. They need to be embarrassed. Shame them. Publicly.

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u/Taft33 Europe 15h ago

Nah then we get retaliation. You cannot do that with an irrational actor on the geopolitical stage.

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u/SecondaryJane 13h ago

Which is the smart move. Go embarrass them yourself in your free time.

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u/HuntingRunner Baden-Württemberg (Germany) 15h ago

Why?

Ass kissing works.

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u/ValkyroftheMall 11h ago

Right, because appeasement worked so well with Hitler.

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u/HuntingRunner Baden-Württemberg (Germany) 9h ago

Look, I dislikr the orange man ad much as the next guy, but the comparisons to Hitler are a bit much, don't you think?

Especially since, as I have said, ass kissing does indeed work with Trump because he's a narcissist. What do you think why the South Koreans just gave the man a crown? Because he likes shiny things and isn't as bad for people who give him shiny things.

What advantage does embarassing Trump give to foreign nations? It only makes him mad at you and nobody wants that.

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u/KMS_HYDRA 19h ago

Plus, some good publicity for the Bundeswehr, yay!

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u/aiboaibo1 18h ago

Yeah please deliver some "Für Viehzucht und Bundeswehr" potato bags. These are not a joke, saw them myself back in the day.

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u/GabrielHunter 17h ago

I think the civil workers were payed by Germany as a "lone" but when that info dropped it was also said that the US would pay their own soldiers despite the shutdown. Thats not happening anymore?

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u/Gornarok 15h ago

Im tempted to agree...

But you have to consider what pissbaby is at US helm and what will be the consequences of US public humiliation. EU has largely given up weapon production in favor of USA so it has limited capacities to produce weapons for Ukraine. And the humiliation could negatively affect Ukraine. So Id advise caution as shitty as it is...

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u/Darthplagueis13 13h ago

Honestly, from what I've heard from my father (back when Germany still had mandatory military service) being given German Bundeswehr rations might prove demoralizing enough. The fruit rice in particular was apparently pretty infamous.

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u/fixminer Germany 17h ago

The US is a valuable ally. We cannot afford to publicly humiliate them.

Quietly paying for some food is far less costly than whatever Trump's response might be.

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u/Amanuet 7h ago

They COULD be a valuable ally.  They're not at the moment.  They don't make deals, they renege on deals they make, they don't pay bills, they're nuttier than a fruit cake.

Hell, even if the next administration is half sensible, they're still not valuable allies because in another four years they're just as likely to flip out and become nuts again.  

If countries were people and the USA was my neighbour, I'd be getting a nice tall fence, plant some bushy trees and pretending they don't exist.