“Everything must be prepared now,” he added, while also emphasizing “we are ready to find solutions. We are extending our hand, but we are not prepared to be blackmailed.”

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office had announced Sunday that France would ask the EU to activate the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, nicknamed the trade bazooka.

Germany is usually more reluctant to take such far-reaching measures, not least to protect its ailing and export-dependent economy. But Klingbeil’s latest comments signal a willingness to take a harder line with Washington — at least on the part of his Social Democrats, that govern in a coalition government with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives.

“We are constantly experiencing new provocations. We are constantly experiencing new antagonism, which President Trump is seeking. And here we Europeans must make it clear that the limit has been reached,” Klingbeil said.

All eyes are now on Merz, who will speak to journalists later on Monday and has in the past been more conciliatory toward the Trump administration than the center-left vice chancellor.

The Newton Finance Committee gathered on Monday to discuss the allocation of a $300,000 transfer to two new management positions in the mayor’s office, chief of community services and chief of staff.

Chief Operating Officer (COO) Josh Morse, explained that these two new positions are aimed at both supporting the ongoing work and reducing the amount of work that comes to the COO’s table.

“It’s a growth period—more of an institutional growth, not necessarily budget growth,” Morse said.

Maureen Lemieux, chief financial officer (CFO) for the mayor’s office, emphasized that the funding request relies on repurposing existing salary funds that will not be used this fiscal year, rather than drawing from reserves or new revenue sources.

“We didn’t want to ask to take money from free cash or even the budget reserve,” Lemieux said. “We wanted to repurpose funds that had already been budgeted this year for salaries for these couple of positions.”

Instead of drawing smaller amounts of funds from several different departments, they decided to draw greater amounts from fewer departments to make the process simpler, explained Lemieux. 

“We’re asking to take the money from three different departments,” Lemieux said.

Morse has worked for the city for the past 18 years, five of which he’s spent in the executive office, and he explained how past COOs have been trampled by their workload.

“It was always one single person managing all of the departments, supporting all of our city councilors, supporting 88,000 residents and 13 villages,” Morse said. “There were so many things that those incredible employees wanted to accomplish, but they just struggled to even get away from their desk because they were triple, quadruple booked every hour of the day.”

Morse also believes that working directly with people and stepping into the community is more important than looking at paperwork all day.

“Opportunities to really discuss what we can do as a city to help improve working conditions or just make sure that we’re adequately supporting and maximizing efficiencies with our frontline staff are important,” Morse said. “And conveying, you know, the message, about how much we support them and how much we really appreciate the work that they do and listening, really listening to them.”

This $300,000 transfer will not only benefit Morse and his ability to remain in close contact with the city, but it will also allow Lemieux to step down for retirement and train the new CFO, Lemieux explained. 

“In addition to that, what we’re asking for is funding to allow me to retire in about 6 months, for us to be able to search for and bring on a new CFO before I go, so that we can have some time for an overlap between my tenure and when the new CFO would take over,” Lemieux said.

Although the committee ultimately agreed to the $300,000 budget transfer, they raised concerns about whether the vacant positions from which the funds were reallocated could be filled.

“We are absolutely not putting those positions on hold … there is absolutely no intent to be shorting that department,” Lemieux said.

Lemieux reiterated that the funds would be taken out of practicality rather than necessity, meaning that those departments could still hire if needed.

Morse then emphasized that these positions would provide needed growth to Newton by allowing the Mayor’s office to continue working efficiently and growing.

“If people see that upward mobility and support, they’re more likely to stick around, and it’s better for us because it makes us more resilient as a city,” Morse said.

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