With the USA gradually withdrawing from its international responsibilities，Germany feels obliged to assume more assignments. In the face of Trump’s isolationism，which is endangering even core interests of Germany and Europe，Germany chooses to distance itself from the US and focus on Europe；to better cope with the pressure brought about by the alienation of the US-German and US-European relationship，Germany must make Europe stronger，and，more importantly，it must enhance its cooperation with France. The Aachen Treaty signed by France and Germany appears，to have，above all，symbolic significance；the Nord Stream 2 project and the amendment of the related EU natural gas directive further expose the differences between Germany，France and other EU member states and practically impede Germany’s efforts to “focus on Europe”. Thus，Germany is somewhat limited in its ability to distance itself from the US by joining forces with France to promote European unity. So far Germany has made little progress in its pursuit of Europe’s “strategic autonomy”. While it raised proposals such as the establishment of a “European Security Council” to improve the EU’s capability of action in foreign and security policy，few countries supported them. As long as Germany continues to place German interests before the common interest of the European Union，as it did regarding the Nord Stream 2 project，it cannot expect other weaker or smaller countries in the EU to prioritize political unity on other issues，e.g. when dealing with the refugee crisis.