Fashion

Germany’s Angela Merkel Is Done With Donald Trump

The German chancellor gave a moving speech congratulating Joe Biden on his victory and never once mentioned the man he will replace in the White House….

Other leaders, including Great Britain’s Boris Johnson, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron, and even the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have issued statements of congratulations this week, but none used the occasion quite like Merkel to comment on the state of global relations and the challenges faced by the new U.S. president, many of them created by his predecessor.

And, notably, she never once mentioned the name of the man Biden will replace in the White House, all but erasing Donald Trump from the narrative.

Instead, in her roughly five minute speech, in which she talked about the long, complicated history of German-American relations—evoking both the stain of the Nazi regime and the joyous moment in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell—she spoke of her friendly relationship with Biden when he served under Barack Obama, saying she recalled “good encounters and talks” with the former vice president. She congratulated Biden on his victory “very warmly.”

Merkel also noted the historic achievement of Kamala Harris, the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States, calling her an”inspiration” and symbol “of what is possible in America.”

Acknowledging the crucial relationship Germany has with the United States, calling it “our most important ally,” Merkel praised Biden as someone who has “decades of experience in foreign policy” and who knows Germany well, adding, “We are allies in NATO, we share fundamental values … and interests.”

“The United States of America and Germany, as part of the European Union, must stand together in order to face the great challenges of our time,” Merkel said, listing the pandemic, climate change, the fight against terrorism and free trade as key issues to be addressed—all ones over which she and Trump have disagreed over.

Most notably, at a G-7 conference in 2018 that was devoted to climate change, Merkel clashed with Trump, who has made a point of either ignoring or dismissing the issue of global warming. At one point, Merkel was captured leaning over a table, seemingly lecturing the U.S. president, as other world leaders, including Macron of France and Shinzo Abe of Japan looked on. That photo was released by the German government and quickly went viral, with Time describing the president as looking “like he’s getting grilled, taken to task for not acting like his predecessor.”

Biden will be the fourth U.S. president that Merkel – who has led Germany since 2005 – has dealt with as chancellor. She has already announced she will not run for re-election.

You can watch the full video here:

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Entertainment

A$AP Rocky Turned An Entire Manchester City Kit Into His Album Rollout

Photo: DannyB Photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

A$AP Rocky doesn’t do album rollouts quietly, and this one recruited an entire Premier League club to help. Manchester City, PUMA, and Rocky teamed up on a limited apparel run tied to “Don’t Be Dumb,” his 2026 album, timed around his September 5th show at Co-op Live.

The centerpiece is a long-sleeve PUMA King jersey in black and archive gold, with “DON’T BE DUMB” running down the sleeve and AWGE branding worked in throughout. A bold “MANCHESTER” graphic covers the back. Fans could also add limited “A$AP 11” name-and-number printing onto the club’s actual Home, Away, or Third kits, while supplies lasted at retail.

There’s a players-only version too, and it never went up for sale. That one sticks closer to City’s usual sky-blue identity, with its own sleeve detailing and back graphic — the kind of piece that exists purely because a handful of people got lucky.

The whole rollout kicked off with a one-night pop-up on September 4th, when PUMA turned a spot in Manchester’s Northern Quarter into a pop-up cafe for the night, mixing football, music, and street style into one room before the wider release hit the stadium store the next morning. Some of those jerseys even came with golden tickets to the concert or that Saturday’s match.

Rocky has called the project true to his own design language, and it’s not even his only club collaboration this cycle — a similar drop with AC Milan landed around the same time. At this point, the line between fashion week and matchday has basically disappeared.

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Entertainment

Quavo And Lids Are Going All In On Atlanta With Their New Cap Pack

Photo: Finish Line / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Quavo has never been shy about his hat obsession, and Lids just gave him another outlet for it. Their new “Atlanta” pack drops September 12th, marking another round in a partnership that’s been running strong since 2019.

The collection is a love letter to the city, spread across three very different caps. One mashes up pinstripes, script lettering, and Braves branding into a single design, working navy, red, white, and light blue into the mix. Another goes the opposite direction entirely — fully iced out in crystal detailing, done up in black and red, with both the Falcons and the Braves showing up in the design. The third strips things back to an old-school “ATL” trucker cap in red, white, and gold, the kind of understated piece that lets the city’s name do the talking.

None of this is new territory for Quavo. He’s talked before about waiting on hat releases as a kid, and that same excitement seems to be what’s kept this partnership going years past most celebrity collabs. His earlier Lids run leaned on one moment — the Braves’ 1995 World Series win — but this pack pulls from the city’s whole sports history instead of just one highlight.

Lids has called Quavo one of the rare voices who can blend music, fashion, and sports without it feeling forced, and this drop backs that up. Given how fast his past releases have moved, Atlanta might want to set an alarm for September 12th.

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