MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The reputation of the United States among Europeans fell to a record low after Donald Trump took presidential office in January 2016.
The new American leader's first steps like signing an order called “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” has triggered mass protests around the world.
Moreover, over a million people have signed a UK government petition to ban US president Donald Trump from coming to the UK on an official state visit. However, as we saw with Brexit, UK petitions fail to get much response from the government despite them being a tool for democracy.
In Germany, only 22% of respondents think that Washington and Berlin have good partnership relations compared to 59% in November 2016, according to a recent survey by the German statistical institute Infratest Dimap.
Malloch, speaking in an interview with the RT UK broadcaster, called on Europeans to show gratitude for the US contribution to the recovery of Europe after the World War II rather than to preach anti-Americanism.
"Let's also remember that America is the country that brought about the rebirth of Europe after the second world war. It was our blood our sweat our tears and our money that made Europe what it is. It would be better if we had a degree of gratitude rather than what we have now — anti-Americanism," Malloch said.
Following the World War II, the United States had taken a number of steps aimed at recovery of the European continent, as the majority of destruction took place in Europe.
The most evident example of the US contribution to the recovery of Europe is the so-called Marshall Plan adopted in 1948 during the presidency of Harry Truman. Within the framework of the initiative, the European states received more than $12 billion to rebuild the countries devastated by the war and to restore their industrial capabilities. The plan also included several political provisions aimed at tackling communist ideology, as well as the spread of the Soviet influence across the continent.
