By Sabine Siebold and Friederike Heine

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s ambassador to the United States warned that the incoming Trump administration would rob U.S. law enforcement and the media of their independence and give big tech companies “co-governing power”, according to in a confidential document seen by Reuters.

The briefing document, dated January 14 and signed by Ambassador Andreas Michaelis, describes Donald Trump’s agenda for his second term in the White House as one of “maximum disruption” that will lead to “a redefinition of the constitutional order – maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the federal state.”

“Basic democratic principles and checks and balances are largely undermined, the legislature, law enforcement and media are robbed of their freedom and misused as a political arm, Big Tech will be given co-governing power,” it said. – said.

Trump’s transition team had no immediate comment on the ambassador’s assessment.

The German foreign ministry said that US voters chose Trump in a democratic election, and that he “will work closely with the new US administration for the interests of Germany and Europe.”

The outgoing government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has largely avoided direct public criticism of Trump since the election, but the ambassador’s confidential assessment offered a candid view from a senior German official.

Ambassadors are not automatically replaced when a new government is formed, unless a change is deemed necessary for diplomatic or other reasons.

The document mentions the judiciary, and particularly the US Supreme Court, as central to Trump’s attempts to further his agenda, but says that despite the court’s recent decision to expand presidential powers, “even the biggest critics believe it will prevent the worst from happening. .”

Michaelis sees control of the Justice Department and FBI as key to Trump achieving his political and personal goals, including mass deportations, retribution against perceived enemies and legal impunity.

He says that Trump has a wide range of legal options to force his agenda on states, saying that “even deploying the military inside the country for police activities would be possible when something is declared ‘insurrection’ and ‘invasion’.”

The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act prohibited the federal military from participating in local law enforcement, with some exceptions.

Michaelis also envisions a “redefinition of the First Amendment,” saying Trump and billionaire X owner Elon Musk are already taking actions against critics and non-cooperating media companies.

“One uses lawsuits, threatens criminal prosecution and license revocation, the other has algorithms that manipulate and block accounts,” he said in the document.

Musk’s repeated endorsement of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of the February 23 national election angered Berlin, but the government stopped short of unanimously abandoning his platform.

Berlin endured an increasingly difficult relationship with the United States during the first Trump administration, facing costly tariffs and criticism over its failure to meet NATO targets on defense spending.