Trump And Germany's Merz Meet At White House To Discuss Ukraine And Trade
4 weeks ago
President Donald Trump and Germany's new leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, began their visit at the White House on Thursday, with a host of major issues — Ukraine, tariffs and defense spending — on the agenda.
Trump welcomed Merz to the Oval Office by boasting of his electoral mandate and saying that mandate included having a “great relationship” with Germany. Trump called Merz a “very good man to deal with” and said he was “difficult” — but said that was a positive trait.
“He's a very, very great representative of Germany,” Trump said of Merz.
The chancellor gave Trump a gold-framed birth certificate of the U.S president's grandfather Friedrich Trump, who immigrated to America from Germany. Merz thanked Trump for his “kind invitation” to visit the White House and stressed that the two leaders had much in common.
Merz is in Washington to work to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe's biggest economy and further bolster his country's long-criticized military spending.
Trump and Merz have spoken several times by phone, either bilaterally or with other European leaders, since Merz took office on May 6. German officials say the two leaders have started to build a “decent” relationship, with Merz wanting to avoid the antagonism that defined Trump's relationship with one of his predecessors, Angela Merkel, in the Republican president's first term.
The 69-year-old Merz is a conservative former rival of Merkel's who took over her party after she retired from politics. Merz also comes to office with an extensive business background — something that could align him with Trump.
On Thursday, Merz told reporters in Washington ahead of his meeting with Trump that “the meeting has been well prepared on all sides.” He said he wants to discuss the Ukraine war, tariffs and NATO spending.
“We will have to talk about NATO — we changed the constitution in Germany so that we can spend the means that need to be spent,” Merz said, adding that “we want to become the strongest conventional army in the European Union.” Before it took office, Merz’s coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt.
Still, Merz said he didn't anticipate major breakthroughs on any of the key issues that he planned to discuss with Trump.
A White House official said topics that Trump is likely to raise with Merz include Germany’s defense spending, trade, Ukraine and what the official called “democratic backsliding," saying the administration's view is that shared values such as freedom of speech have deteriorated in Germany and the country should reverse course. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the discussions.
But Merz told reporters Thursday morning that if Trump wanted to talk German domestic politics, he was ready to do that but he also stressed Germany holds back when it comes to American domestic politics.
Merz will want to avoid an Oval Office showdown of the kind that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa experienced in recent months. Asked about the risk of a White House blow-up, Merz spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Monday that the chancellor is “well-prepared” for the meeting and that he and Trump have “built up a decent relationship, at least by phone" and via text messaging.
Keeping Ukraine's Western backers together
Merz has thrown himself into diplomacy on Ukraine, traveling to Kyiv with fellow European leaders days after taking office and receiving Zelenskyy in Berlin last week. He has thanked Trump for his support for an unconditional ceasefire while rejecting the idea of “dictated peace” or the “subjugation” of Ukraine and advocating for more sanctions against Russia.
The White House official said Trump on Thursday will stress that direct peace talks must continue.
In their first phone call since Merz became chancellor, Trump said he would support the efforts of Germany and other European countries to achieve peace, according to a readout from the German government. Merz also said last month that “it is of paramount importance that the political West not let itself be divided, so I will continue to make every effort to produce the greatest possible unity between the European and American partners.”
Under Merz's immediate predecessor, Olaf Scholz, Germany became the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has vowed to keep up the support and last week pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any range limits.
Trump welcomed Merz to the Oval Office by boasting of his electoral mandate and saying that mandate included having a “great relationship” with Germany. Trump called Merz a “very good man to deal with” and said he was “difficult” — but said that was a positive trait.
“He's a very, very great representative of Germany,” Trump said of Merz.
The chancellor gave Trump a gold-framed birth certificate of the U.S president's grandfather Friedrich Trump, who immigrated to America from Germany. Merz thanked Trump for his “kind invitation” to visit the White House and stressed that the two leaders had much in common.
Merz is in Washington to work to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe's biggest economy and further bolster his country's long-criticized military spending.
Trump and Merz have spoken several times by phone, either bilaterally or with other European leaders, since Merz took office on May 6. German officials say the two leaders have started to build a “decent” relationship, with Merz wanting to avoid the antagonism that defined Trump's relationship with one of his predecessors, Angela Merkel, in the Republican president's first term.
The 69-year-old Merz is a conservative former rival of Merkel's who took over her party after she retired from politics. Merz also comes to office with an extensive business background — something that could align him with Trump.
On Thursday, Merz told reporters in Washington ahead of his meeting with Trump that “the meeting has been well prepared on all sides.” He said he wants to discuss the Ukraine war, tariffs and NATO spending.
“We will have to talk about NATO — we changed the constitution in Germany so that we can spend the means that need to be spent,” Merz said, adding that “we want to become the strongest conventional army in the European Union.” Before it took office, Merz’s coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt.
Still, Merz said he didn't anticipate major breakthroughs on any of the key issues that he planned to discuss with Trump.
A White House official said topics that Trump is likely to raise with Merz include Germany’s defense spending, trade, Ukraine and what the official called “democratic backsliding," saying the administration's view is that shared values such as freedom of speech have deteriorated in Germany and the country should reverse course. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the discussions.
But Merz told reporters Thursday morning that if Trump wanted to talk German domestic politics, he was ready to do that but he also stressed Germany holds back when it comes to American domestic politics.
Merz will want to avoid an Oval Office showdown of the kind that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa experienced in recent months. Asked about the risk of a White House blow-up, Merz spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Monday that the chancellor is “well-prepared” for the meeting and that he and Trump have “built up a decent relationship, at least by phone" and via text messaging.
Keeping Ukraine's Western backers together
Merz has thrown himself into diplomacy on Ukraine, traveling to Kyiv with fellow European leaders days after taking office and receiving Zelenskyy in Berlin last week. He has thanked Trump for his support for an unconditional ceasefire while rejecting the idea of “dictated peace” or the “subjugation” of Ukraine and advocating for more sanctions against Russia.
The White House official said Trump on Thursday will stress that direct peace talks must continue.
In their first phone call since Merz became chancellor, Trump said he would support the efforts of Germany and other European countries to achieve peace, according to a readout from the German government. Merz also said last month that “it is of paramount importance that the political West not let itself be divided, so I will continue to make every effort to produce the greatest possible unity between the European and American partners.”
Under Merz's immediate predecessor, Olaf Scholz, Germany became the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has vowed to keep up the support and last week pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any range limits.
