On Tuesday 17 January 2017, AMCHAM Luxembourg organised a farewell lunch at the Cercle Munster in Luxembourg-Grund for the US Ambassador to Luxembourg, David McKean, whose term of office expires this week.
Paul Schonenberg, AMCHAM Chairman, wished all 80 attendees a Happy New Year on the occasion of the business chamber's first event of 2017. He stated it was also a sad occasion as they were assembled to say farewell to Ambassador McKean. After the meal, Paul Schonenberg presented a large bouquet of flowers to Kathleen, the wife of Ambassador McKean, and a Luxembourg flag which had been flown around the Grand Duchy in a helicopter by Luxembourg air Rescue, to Ambassador McKean.
Ambassador McKean stated that he has really enjoyed getting to know the country and thanked Paul Schonenberg and AMCHAM for inviting him here today. He stated he was impressed with the chamber's scope, activities and Paul's leadership.
From the perspective of an outgoing ambassador who has served for 25 years, he talked about the incoming US President, Donald Trump. He revealed that while there are a lot of questions about Donald Trump's style of governance, the US President has probably the most power in foreign policy over any other area. He said that there could be a big vacuum which could lead to a big bureaucracy, and conceded that Donald Trump has almost no experience in foreign policy, so it will be interesting to see what happens. He said a very interesting dynamic will take hold; his foreign policy advisers are ideologists and the anticipated Foreign Secretary is known to be pragmatic.
He identified and discussed four critical issues that may define Trump's presidency:
1) Iran: currently the country is over a year away from creating a nuclear weapon; new sanctions are likely which will heighten tensions and also affect the EU's current trade ateempts there;
2) Climate change: both President Obama and John Kerry have devoted a lot of time in this area, yet Donald Trump has threatened to cancel the agreements signed. Climate is not just a health or environment issue, but also an economic issue too. He confirmed that currenly there are 50,000 jobs in the US in the coal industry, while in California there are half a million people employed in renewable energy.
3) Europe. John Kerry said that a strong EU is good for the US, and Nato remains the greatest alliance the world has ever known. Trump has recently called Nato "obsolete" and encouraged more countries to leave the EU.
4) Russia. John Kerry recently said that the US tried to restore relations with Russia early in Obama's presidency, but cyber attacks, etc., have threatened closer ties. President-elect Trump has said that improved relations with Russia and Putin would be a good thing. Amb McKean said that Trump should be strongly admonished if he tries to interfere in European elections.
These issues, and others, will be debated inside the White House in the coming weeks. Amb McKean said that when Donald Trump is in the White House, he hopes (only partly in jest) that his advisers will remove his Twitter account and convince him not to do things he said he would.
He stated that his country is an open democracy and that the election was peaceful, but that the transfer of power will also be peaceful. In an emotional conclusion, he recalled his time in Luxembourg and hoped for continued good relations between the two countries.
Ambassador McKean is scheduled to leave Luxembourg this Friday and return to Washington DC.
