Everything is a political weapon since Trump’s re-election, says Germany’s ex-economy minister

Robert Habeck was the Green politician in charge of keeping Germany’s lights on during the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photograph: Kay Nietfeld/AP

The weaponisation of energy when Russia invaded Ukraine has given way to “weaponising everything” since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Germany’s former economy minister has said.

Robert Habeck, the Green politician responsible for keeping the lights on during the last energy crisis, said the belief gas “would never be a political weapon” led successive German governments blindly into Putin’s trap by building the Nord Stream pipelines and selling strategic reserves to Gazprom, which Russia emptied before the invasion.