At their first meeting, Merz gives the birth-earing of Trumps grandfather as a gift: ‘He was also called Friedrich’

US President Donald Trump is a whimsical host, and the tension prior to the visit of the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office was therefore considerable. There are many topics that can be a source of conflict between Germany and the US: sanctions for Russia (in which the US does not cooperate), American import duties, and the support of the MAGA camp on the radical-right Alternative Für Deutschland (AfD).

But at the encounter in the Oval Office Las Trump Merz was not the lesson, he did not embarrass him either, as when he then refused Chancellor Angela Merkel to shake hands with her visit in 2017. Merz could not present herself as the important leader in Europe who enforces commitments from Trump. For the rotating cameras, Trump held long monologues on mainly domestic subjects, and the German Chancellor played a somewhat marginal role next to him.

Trump spoke most of the time about the « biggest scandal in this country in the last hundred years », namely the « car« , The signing machine of his predecessor Joe Biden. It was also about Elon Musk and his criticism of Trump’s tax reform. » I am very disappointed in Elon, « said Trump. « To be honest, I think he is missing this place. Some people get hostile when they wake up one day and the glamor is gone. » Other important themes were the telephone conversation with Xi Jinping earlier on Thursday and the new entry ban. According to Trump, that had to do with all the « bad people. » Against Merz: « You have the same problem, but that is not your fault. I warned her (Angela Merkel, ed.) », Referring to the tolerant refugee politics of Merkel in 2015.

Flattery and clear language

For Merz, the most important topic when his visit to Trump was the American support for Ukraine. Merz tried to cut the issue several times, and to move Trump to speak out against Russia. But Trump compared the two countries with two fighting children, who sometimes have to go out to be able to go through one door again. Trump also said he had used the same analogy in his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

« They say I’m a friend of Russia, » said Trump. « But I am not a friend. I want the best for humanity. » Trump regretted satellite images from Ukraine that « loose arms, legs, heads All over the place« Show. Merz, in between: » Ukraine only takes military goals in sight. « 

Merz ‘dealing with Trump and his entourage was so far a mix of flattery and clear language. Since Merz, he called Trump a number of times. In the first conversation, Merz Trump invited to visit Bad Dürkheim together, the place in Rijnland-Palatten where Trumps grandparents come from, and that Merz says he knows well because he did military service in the region. In the White House, Merz handed over the birth-earing of Trumps grandfather. Merz: « It was also called Friedrich, that is a whole German name. »

Earlier Merz clearly distanced themselves from the statements of support of the Trump camp for the radical-right alternative für Deutschland. After the German domestic security service had labeled the AfD as a ‘extremist organization’, the American Foreign Minister Marco Rubio Germany called ‘a disguised tyranny’. Merz then said that the US government spreads « absurd images » of Germany and that they have to « keep themselves out. » In February, Merz condemned the « interference » in domestic affairs of JD Vance, when he talked about « censorship » in Germany. Vance and Rubio were sitting next to Trump on a couch during the visit of Merz – but had those issues rest.

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