Germany’s Merz survives Trump test, despite Ukraine differences
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (left) presenting Mr Donald Trump with a framed birth certificate of the US President's grandfather in the Oval Office on June 5.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came through his Oval Office encounter with Mr Donald Trump relatively unscathed on June 5 – despite differences over Ukraine as the US President said it might be better to let Moscow and Kyiv fight it out like children.
A month into his job, Mr Merz unleashed a charm offensive on the 78-year-old Mr Trump, presenting him with a framed copy of the birth certificate of his grandfather Frederick, who was born in Germany in 1869.
Mr Merz also hailed the US leader as being the “key person in the world” when it came to ending the war in Ukraine, saying Mr Trump could “really do that now by putting pressure on Russia”.
It was a backhanded way of urging him to overcome his aversion to putting sanctions on Russia
The polite meeting showed that the conservative German leader had done his homework as he sought to avoid ambushes like those that Mr Trump unleashed on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky South African President Cyril Ramaphosa .
But they did not see eye to eye on everything.
‘Fighting in park’
Mr Trump – who spoke to Russian leader Vladimir Putin
He compared the war that has left tens of thousands dead and swathes of Ukraine in ruins to a children’s brawl.
“Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart,” he told reporters.
“Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while.”
Mr Trump said that he had urged the Russian leader not to retaliate after Ukraine launched daring drone attacks
“I said: Don’t do it,” he told reporters, adding that Mr Putin had replied that he had no choice but to respond and it was “not going to be pretty”.
Mr Trump did make a series of off-colour references to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II – still a deeply sensitive subject in modern-day Germany.
Praising Mr Merz for Germany raising its defence spending in line with his demands for Nato members
Referring to the upcoming 80th anniversary of the allied D-Day landings that led to the end of the war, Mr Trump said: “That was not a pleasant day for you?”
Mr Merz, 69, calmly replied: “This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship. We know what we owe you.”
Tariffs deal possible
Mr Merz avoided other possible pitfalls as Mr Trump spent much of his time on a lengthy discourse against his billionaire former adviser Elon Musk.
Topics like US tariffs on the European Union (EU) and the prospect of a trade deal barely came up, with Mr Trump saying he believed a deal was possible.
On Mr Trump’s threat to hammer the EU with sharply higher tariffs, Mr Merz, leader of the bloc’s biggest economy, had earlier argued it must be self-confident in its negotiations with Washington.
Nor did Mr Trump confront Mr Merz over free speech issues in Germany as US media had reported he might – a bugbear the administration has repeatedly brought up with European leaders despite its own record.
Mr Merz told reporters in Washington ahead of the meeting that if Mr Trump brought up German domestic politics, “I will state my opinion very clearly if necessary”.
Mr Trump and some in his administration have given vocal support to the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD)
US Vice-President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Trump adviser Musk have all weighed in in support of the AfD,
Despite the tensions, Mr Merz said earlier that he was “looking forward” to his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump.
The German Chancellor is believed to have studied videos of previous Oval Office ambushes and learnt how to stay calm and let Mr Trump talk. AFP
