“I prefer Trump”

Federal Councilor Albert Rosti said on Monday that he would rather have Donald Trump as president of the United States. Senior Vice President Marcel Detering made no such statement. He simply said: He is pro-Republican.

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Federal Council members are generally reluctant to comment on overseas elections. Not so with Federal Councilor Albert Rosti. This is particularly relevant to the US presidential election, which will be decided next week. On Monday, at an event at Basel's Freies Gymnasium where he was actually trying to promote his motorway expansion plans, he made the following statement in response to a student's question:

The Daily Review wrote on Tuesday and referred to a video shared with its editorial team. Rosti's departmental information service confirmed that the recording was authentic and had not been taken out of context.

Albert Rösti speaks at an event regarding the November vote in the US presidential election.Photo credit: Watson/Erin Erroll

In the video, Rosti explained his attitude towards Trump: “He is the only president who has not led the United States into a war for four years.” Donald Trump promised that he would bring peace. “I believe to some extent that he will do it. Because I think: The war in Ukraine cannot go on like this,” Rosti continued in the video.

But he also said he was troubled by Trump's character. He didn't like some of the things he “missed.” For example, when he claimed during the campaign that immigrants from Haiti eat dogs and cats. “Chabis” was Rosti’s idea.

Senior Vice President Marcel Detering takes a cautious approach

Federal Councilor Albert Rösti and his ministry did not want to comment on the statement when asked by the Watson editorial team. Everything about it has been said. Watson contacted Marcel Detdling, Switzerland's senior vice-president and national parliamentarian for the canton of Schwyz. Detering didn't want to talk about Rosti's appearance. Detering also didn't know what the senior vice president's position was on the U.S. campaign. That's not discussed. He could only speak from a personal perspective. This one is: Pro-Republican.

And people who support Trump, like his federal commissioners? Detering made no such statement. “I'm not interested in the man, but in the government that came to power subsequently,” he said. “Switzerland had a better experience with the Republicans.”

Detering cited the Bank Secrecy Act as an example. Under pressure from the United States, Switzerland will have to abandon its banking secrecy. This happened under democratic US President Barack Obama.

Trump's arguments in fact-checking

But Detering has a more recent example: “The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden was completely hasty.” Switzerland will now feel the consequences: a flood of refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan.

This argument is only half the story. Yes, the United States has withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan under Democratic President Joe Biden. However, the Trump administration ordered this step. The result: The terrorist Taliban came to power in Afghanistan.

Since this year, National Councilor of the canton of Schwyz and Bauer have been senior vice-presidents of Switzerland.Image: trapezoid

For Trump, Detering also made the same argument as Federal Councilor Albert Rosti: There was no war under Trump. This statement is actually correct. Under Trump, the United States has not invaded any other country. However, the Trump administration is not necessarily more “peaceful” than other administrations before it.

During the Trump administration from 2016 to 2020, the United States still waged war if that meant, for example, the military dropping bombs on other countries. In 2018, the United States attacked a chemical weapons factory in Syria. The U.S. military under Trump has also conducted thousands of drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan. Trump continues the strategy of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

There are other presidents in American history who have not started a war. Recent example: Joe Biden.

Still, Detering has more confidence in Democratic candidate Donald Trump and believes he can bring peace to the world. Just like Federal Councilor Rosti. Detlin said:

Detering did not directly blame Joe Biden for the war in Ukraine. But: Joe Biden’s strategy of using NATO to contain Russia isn’t working either.

For Detering, there is only one factor working against Donald Trump and Kamala Harris: age. “It always bothers me that in a country as large and powerful as the United States, men of retirement age are at the top,” he said. “But ultimately it's the American choice. We have to respect that.”

There was a threat in the men's room of KV Zurich. The shooting is scheduled to take place on October 31st. The Zurich city police are aware of this. Classes will not be held on site.

KV Zurich Business School is exciting. On Friday, a threatening message was discovered in the men's room. According to Brick, on the wall of the toilet was written: «10/31/24! Rampage ».