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07/03/2026 July 3, 2026 Steinmeier hails US-German ties on independence anniversary Reagan famously told Russia's Mikhail Gorbachev to 'tear down this wall' Image: Dieter Klar/dpa/picture
07/03/2026 July 3, 2026 Steinmeier hails US-German ties on independence anniversary Reagan famously told Russia's Mikhail Gorbachev to 'tear down this wall' Image: Dieter Klar/dpa/picture alliance German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has hailed the close bond between Germany and the United States on the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. In a congratulatory letter to US President Donald Trump, Steinmeier said the shared history between the two countries remained central to Germany, despite recent tensions.
"The history we share with the United States means a great deal to us Germans," the letter said. "It carries responsibility. It forges our unity within the NATO Alliance, which defends more than just our security, it defends the 250-year promise of liberty, justice, and self-determination." Steinmeier said those ideals had shaped world history and deeply influenced Germany's relationship with the US.
He noted that Germans helped build the American republic in the 19th century, while Germany's own path to democracy in the 20th century would have been unthinkable without the US. Steinmeier recalled that US troops helped liberate Europe from Nazi rule and that Washington later gave West Germany a new chance at freedom and prosperity, supporting the rule of law, economic recovery and democratic culture.
He also referred to former US president Ronald Reagan's 1987 call in West Berlin for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. "Both the rebirth in freedom and Germany's reunification would have been inconceivable without the United States," Steinmeier wrote.
The BriefWire