Bush's Furor Over Der Fuhrer

By John F. Dickerson

George Bush usually blows off criticism from Europeans, but he lost it when he heard that German Justice Minister Herta Daubler-Gmelin compared him to Hitler. "Bush wants to distract attention from his domestic problems," she said. "That's a popular method. Even Hitler did that." Daubler-Gmelin says she was misquoted. Rather than blaming the Frau, however, Bush lashed out at German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder in private phone conversations with other world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. "He believes that Schroder created the environment for that kind of comment to take place," says a senior Administration official. Putin's reaction? He told Bush such foolishness would never happen in elections in his country.

The White House has been biting its tongue ever since the liberal Schroder started revitalizing his campaign by bashing the U.S. position on Iraq. What Bush finds especially galling about Schroder's performance is that the White House let the Chancellor know he would not be forced to take a public position on Iraq before election day. The Bush team expected a little good behavior in return, but Schroder kept stomping. He did send Bush an apology about his minister's remark, but White House officials viewed it as "arrogant." Says another senior Administration official: "If you had asked me before the Hitler comment, I would have said this is retrievable. Now, boy, I'll tell you, it's bad."

With reporting by Massimo Calabresi