Europe tussles for second knowing it's 'America First'

As US President Donald Trump vows to put "America first," a video from the Netherlands last week pleaded him to put their country second. Now, satirists from across Europe are making their own pitches to Washington.

Deutsche Welle, 3 February 2017

everysecondcounts.eu

In a casting show style they may hope appeals to the TV star turned US president, several European countries have broadcast videos attempting to persuade Donald Trump to give them second billing after "America First."

It started last week with a viral video from the Netherlands: "We totally understand it's going to be America first. But can we just say: The Netherlands second?" After all, the Netherlands' "orange" history and lax tax rules make it the ideal candidate, according to the comedian behind the video, Arjen Lubach.

In the space of a week, the video gathered more than 17 million views.

Now broadcasters from across Europe are sending out their own satirical videos messages to Trump and collecting them online at everysecondcounts.eu.

German comedian Jan Böhmermann broadcast Germany's satirical appeal to Trump on Thursday, where the video tried to impress the US president with by touting the fact Germany hosted "the best world wars" and building a "great German wall" and making the Russians pay for it then crying when it was torn down by David Hasselhof.

Böhmermann made headlines last year - and prompted an international incident - after he read a lewd poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This Swiss, meanwhile, promoted their "big, fat mountains," while the Portuguese talked up their "huge, enormous beaches."

Other contributions so far include Denmark, Belgium and Lithuania.

Every Second Counts announced on its Twitter feed that Luxembourg and Slovakia will be the next countries to post their pitches to the president.

dm/sms (AP, Every Second Counts)

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