Odd how often we hear the phrase, “Trump was right.”
President Donald J. Trump warned Germany in 2018 about its energy policies, saying they would be “totally dependent” on Russian energy, and he was seemingly the butt of all the jokes.
Good times https://t.co/e4sUUGPwqF pic.twitter.com/hPYCuyy1Oq
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) January 16, 2026
Fast forward to 2026, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is saying that it was a “serious strategic mistake to phase out nuclear energy.”
Germany was largely dependent on Russia up until 2022, reportedly receiving about 65% of its gas supply from the Kremlin. In response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany began a rapid policy shift to diversify sources, though the country still relies heavily on imports of fossil fuels.
Merz, seen as a conservative, was very critical of the energy policies of his predecessors, including former Chancellor Angela Merkel, for creating the world’s costliest energy transition, according to the Turkish news outlet Anadolu Ajansı.
President Trump 2018: Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course
Germany 2018: LoL Orange Man
Germany 2026: Crap, the Orange Man was right pic.twitter.com/c9hZR4kCWA
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) January 16, 2026
“It was a serious strategic mistake to exit nuclear energy,” Merz said this week at a German business conference. “If you were going to do it, you should have at least kept the last remaining nuclear power plants in Germany on the grid three years ago, so that we would have had the same electricity generation capacity.”
“We’re now making the most expensive energy transition in the entire world,” he added. “I don’t know of a second country that makes it as difficult and as expensive for itself as Germany does. We set ourselves a goal that we now have to correct, but we simply don’t have enough energy generation capacity.”
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:
That aged like milk on a hot summer day. I don’t remember any of them apologizing for destroying their own country for a laugh.
— MAGA’s the Fix™ (@Honesttruthman) January 16, 2026
And these are the same people who cried onstage at the Munich Security conference after JD Vance’s speech on free speech in Feb last year.
— Desiree Fixler (@desireefixler) January 16, 2026
This is true about countless things. People ridicule him and reveal their total ignorance. The guy knows what he’s talking about geopolitically.
— Catholic Frequency (@CatholicFQ) January 16, 2026
You will not see the accuracy of this prediction on CNN. If Kamala made this accurate prediction they would claim she was the second coming of God. Name me one prediction of Gore’s or the ketchup man that came true.
— Christopher S. Swiecicki, Esq. (@taxcounsel09) January 16, 2026
“Yes, the German economy is facing severe challenges, described by industry leaders as being in “free fall” or its “deepest crisis” since WWII, with weak growth, falling industrial output, and declining competitiveness due to high energy costs, US tariffs, China competition,… pic.twitter.com/wnNn4DPDNC
— David Dansker (@DavidDansker) January 16, 2026
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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