Merz Emerges Unscathed From Oval Office Talks
'A very good man to deal with' and 'a very great representative of Germany' were among the words of praise US President Donald Trump heaped on Friedrich Merz during the German chancellor's visit to the White House yesterday. Merz had clearly heeded advice from a number of European counterparts that he should let Trump do the talking, and can breathe a sigh of relief that he avoided the kind of public humiliation meted out to others in the Oval Office. The talks had carried a high degree of risk, with Merz determined to lobby the president on key issues for the EU, including the transatlantic trade conflict, Europe's security architecture and support for Ukraine. With just weeks until the US's threatened 50% tariff on nearly all EU goods is set to take effect, Trump sounded a positive note: 'I think all we want is just going to have a good relationship. The rest will just sort of follow very easily. We'll have a good trade deal.'
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