By Our Reporter 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has delivered a sharp rebuke of United States foreign policy under President Donald Trump, warning that global order risks collapsing into what he described as a “den of robbers” if democratic values are abandoned.

In unusually forthright remarks at a symposium, Steinmeier said democracy worldwide was under unprecedented attack, pointing to recent international developments that appeared to include actions such as the reported move to oust Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, over the weekend.

Although the German presidency is largely ceremonial, Steinmeier’s comments carry significant moral and political weight, reflecting his stature as a former foreign minister and his latitude to speak more freely than serving government officials.

He described Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its subsequent full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a historic watershed in global politics, adding that recent conduct by the United States represented a second major rupture in the international system.

“Then there is the breakdown of values by our most important partner, the USA, which helped build this world order.

“It is about preventing the world from turning into a den of robbers, where the most unscrupulous take whatever they want, where regions or entire countries are treated as the property of a few great powers,” Steinmeier said.

The German president warned that without active intervention, the erosion of shared norms could accelerate, undermining international law and multilateral cooperation.

He stressed the need to rally influential nations, including Brazil and India, to defend and uphold the existing global order.

Steinmeier’s comments underscore growing unease among European leaders over shifts in U.S. foreign policy and their implications for global stability, at a time of heightened geopolitical tension and competing power blocs.