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Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Our Man in Berlin
During Donald Trump's first term, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised the world and perhaps himself by building a solid relationship with the mercurial American president. U.S.-German relations, on the other hand, went through one crisis after another. The second time around, it's the Germans who seem to be managing the relationship smoothly, while the Japanese have been disappointed. The secret to Berlin's success so far appears to lie with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his disciplined approach to the trans-Atlantic relationship. When the Bundestag voted Mr. Merz's government into power on May 6, U.S.-German relations were not in the happiest state. In February, Vice President JD Vance met with Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the German decision to classify the AfD as an extremist organization 'tyranny in disguise.' Mr. Merz deftly walked a line, firmly rejecting criticisms of German democracy while aligning Berlin with key Trump administration priorities. Committing to spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense, taking a tougher stance on immigration, and focusing attention on the dangers of Chinese mercantilism to the German economy all went down smoothly in Washington. Mr. Merz, a successful businessman, may have an easier time understanding the American president than do career politicians with less feel for the private sector. Knowing that a working relationship with Mr. Trump was a key to his success overall, the new German chancellor has tended the bilateral relationship assiduously. At his first Oval Office meeting, Mr. Merz presented the president with a gold-framed copy of Mr. Trump's grandfather's German birth certificate. Mr. Merz has refused to criticize Mr. Trump in public and has nothing but nice things to say about their telephone conversations.
The Independent
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
The very important meeting that took place while the world watched the Musk-Trump spectacle
As the inevitable bust-up between a quixotic US President and his wayward billionaire tech guru was erupting into colourful headlines around the world, a tall, grey, spectacled man, very different in character from either, was quietly leaving the White House with his entourage. This was Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany's new government, who had just completed his first visit to the Oval Office as Chancellor. It was a meeting that may prove of more lasting significance for the wider world than the verbal fireworks between Donald Trump and Elon Musk. In the main, the Trump-Merz encounter went well – no doubt to an extent because visiting foreign leaders are learning. As the two sat side by side in the Oval Office, it was hard not to believe that Merz had not spent some preparation time studying the worst (the ambush of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky) and the best (the smoothly authoritative defence of Canada by Mark Carney) examples of how to handle Donald Trump. Beyond some token flattery, Chancellor Merz began by saying comparatively little, helped along by a US press corps far more interested in domestic politics, including Trump v Musk, than in US-German relations. He piped up a little more on Germany's rising defence spending – eliciting a jocular aside from Trump about how there was a time when a German leader announcing increased military spending would not have been so well received in the US – before touching on the vexed tariff question, with the two jointly accepting that any bilateral discussions would have to be continued in the EU context. When questions turned to Ukraine, however, the first signs of dissent appeared, with Merz waxing almost voluble in 100 per cent support of Ukraine – although it was not immediately apparent whether Trump fully understood this, whether he might have chosen to leave any points of friction for later, or whether he was just in a good mood (which he certainly appeared to be). In all, though, it would appear that Germany, under its new centre-right chancellor, is well on the way to becoming the de facto EU, and maybe European, leader in relations with the United States, with Trump clearly appreciating that Merz was not Angela Merkel – who he initially referred to only as 'her', along with Germany's apparent ambition to become a model defence spender, at 5 per cent of GDP. Merz's facility with the English language, his legal and business background, not to mention his towering 6ft 6 height (3 inches more than Trump), all probably helped too. If the tariff question was set to be a big topic at the lunch and the talks that followed the Oval Office exchanges, however, it looked destined to take second place to Ukraine. This is partly because someone else is the point person for trade talks – the EU's accomplished trade commissioner, Maros Sevcovic. But more because of the urgency that shone out through everything the two leaders had said about Ukraine in their responses to journalists, as well as the sharp differences that what they said – and they said quite a lot – revealed about the thinking on either side of the Atlantic. And what stood out here, for all the surface bonhomie, offered few grounds for optimism. After weeks in which, it had seemed, the Europeans and the US had been making efforts to reconcile their approaches to the Ukraine war, the size of the gap looks almost as wide as ever. Both now profess to want the earliest possible end to the war, which marks a change from the European line a few weeks ago, when the argument from London and Paris was that now was not the time to stop fighting and that Europe's military support for Ukraine had to be boosted, both to replace any retreat by the US and to maintain pressure on Russia. That, however, is almost where the agreement stops. What was said in the Oval Office showed that while Trump wants talks now, he has a deadline in mind for Russia and Ukraine to agree, and has a new sanctions package nearly ready to go. He still sees himself – despite recently calling Russia's President Putin 'crazy' – as the enabler of peace, standing in the middle. Denying that he was friends with Putin – 'I'm no one's friend', he said – he refused to blame Russia alone, and compared Russia and Ukraine to kids fighting in a playground who were not yet ready to be separated, however much damage they were inflicting on each other. The fighting, he accepted, would probably go on for a while yet. Merz, on the other hand, while accepting that the US was the 'key' to any agreement, insisted that he, and Europe, were entirely on Ukraine's side and they were 'looking for more pressure on Russia'. He went so far as to laud Ukraine for 'never' targeting civilians in their attacks – something Russia would contest in the light, most recently, of an attack on a bridge when a train was passing over. And when Trump insisted that his determination to end the war was 'not about the money, well, it's a little bit the money, but it's not the big thing. It's the deaths and decimation' on both sides, Merz spoke only of Ukrainian deaths. While Merz's view is not shared completely across Europe – Hungary, Slovakia and to an extent Italy would align themselves more with Trump – it is the prevailing EU position, and the one forcefully represented by the UK. Any recent hints of movement towards a single Western approach, it would seem, are just that. That Merz gave not the slightest hint of any movement towards Trump's position on the war suggested that the two sides of the Atlantic remain almost as far apart on what should happen next as Russia and Ukraine.
Associated Press
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Germany's Merz says he found Trump open to dialogue and committed to NATO
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO. Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. 'Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch,' Merz said in Berlin after his return. Thursday's White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The two leaders opened with pleasantries. Merz presented Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Trump called Merz a 'very good man to deal with.' The American administration, he said, is open to discussion, listens, and is willing to accept differing opinions. Add he added that dialogue should go both ways: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him.' He said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognize the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Trump that allies matter. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to NATO, particularly as Germany and others boost their defense spending. Trump has in the past suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defense spending targets. 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to NATO, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified,' Merz said. 'We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years, and we're changing that now.'
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Germany's Merz to face Trump in Oval Office on inaugural trip
BERLIN/WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will hold his first face-to-face talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office as Europe seeks to stave off looming U.S. tariffs and sustain U.S. backing for Ukraine. The 69-year-old conservative, who took the helm of Europe's largest economy last month, is scheduled to join Trump for lunch and one-on-one talks that analysts say could set the tone for U.S.-German ties for years to come. Germany's export-oriented economy stands more to lose from U.S. tariffs than others and the country is also the second largest military and financial backer of Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion, after the United States. The meeting comes amid a broader fraying of the transatlantic relationship. Trump's administration has, for example, intervened in domestic European politics in a break with past practise, aligning with right-wing political movements and challenging European policies on immigration and free speech. The encounter will be closely watched after some recent meetings in the Oval Office, with the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa, for example, turned tense when Trump ambushed them with false claims and accusations. Merz and his entourage have sought coaching from other leaders on how to deal with Trump to avoid conflict. The meeting comes just weeks before a critical summit of the NATO Western military alliance which is looking increasingly strained given Trump's threats not to come to the aid of U.S. allies that do not up their spending on defence. Such threats are of particular concern to Germany, which has relied on U.S. nuclear deterrence for its security since the end of World War Two. Merz has already made some bold policy moves that he can highlight to appease Trump, analysts said. He has backed Trump's demand to more than double NATO's spending target to 5% of economic output, earning unprecedented praise last weekend from U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Merz, who has vowed a more assertive foreign policy, also coordinated a visit by European leaders to Kyiv just days after taking office, two European diplomat sources said. "This shows that Germany is willing to accept a greater responsibility for Ukraine and the European security order – these are all things that have been wished for in the United States over years and will be welcomed," said Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "Germany is well-positioned to show that it can help the United States achieve its foreign policy goals." The fact Merz was invited to stay in the Blair House guest quarters across from the White House is a positive signal, said analysts. Merz and Trump could even find some common ground given their business backgrounds, their membership in right-of-centre political parties, their focus on fighting illegal immigration and their fondness for golf, said Steven Sokol, President and CEO of the American Council on Germany. They also both had run-ins with former German chancellor Angela Merkel - who once squeezed Merz out of top-level politics. Moreover Merz has described himself as "a convinced transatlanticist", chairing the "Atlantic Bridge", a non-profit fostering U.S.-German ties, for 10 years. "They might discover a kindred spirit," Sokol said. Still, Trump was unpredictable, while Merz was impulsive, warned analysts, and there were huge frictions in the relationship. "The challenge that he could face is ... if Trump says something is erroneous, do you correct him? Do you risk turning it into an argument?" said Jeffrey Rathke, a former U.S. diplomat and president of the American-German Institute at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington. "Or do you find a way to indicate that you see it differently, but not let it sidetrack the conversation." U.S. administration officials remain upset that Merz criticized Trump shortly before the 2024 U.S. election, a source familiar with its thinking said. And, on the eve of his own election victory, Merz criticised the "ultimately outrageous" comments flowing from Washington during the campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Russia. Another possible landmine could be a recent German proposal for a levy on online platforms such as Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, and Meta's Facebook (META.O), opens new tab, especially given Trump's close ties with the U.S. tech industry, he said.
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Merz Has Courted and Criticized Trump From Afar. Now They Meet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has veered between boasting about common ground with Donald Trump to bemoaning the US president's volatility and even mocking his bravado. Now, for the first time, he gets to deal with him face to face. After nearly a month in office and following weeks of negotiations, the 69-year-old conservative will travel to Washington for his inaugural meeting with Trump on Thursday. Past meetings between the two countries' leaders have often been formalities to reinforce their unshakable postwar partnership: This time is different.
