President Donald Trump took a markedly different approach to his Thursday bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz compared to recent meetings with other foreign leaders.
Last month, Trump derailed the visit from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa by rolling out a television in the Oval Office and playing clips of opposition leaders calling for the killing of Afrikaner farmers and repeatedly pressing Ramaphosa to address claims of genocide in his country.
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At the time, White House insiders suggested to the Washington Examiner that in the meeting, which followed a disastrous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a few months prior, Trump intentionally channeled his reality television background into his foreign policy.
However, Thursday’s bilateral turned out to be a relatively blase affair, with the two leaders giving generally vague political-speak answers on a number of topics, including the war in Ukraine and trade tensions between the United States and Europe.
Like other European leaders, Merz attempted to motivate Trump to put increased pressure on Russia to end the fighting in Ukraine. He noted that Thursday’s meeting was one day before the June 6 anniversary of D-Day, “when the Americans once ended a war in Europe.”
“That was not a pleasant day for you,” Trump chuckled in response.
“No, that was not pleasant,” Merz agreed. “But in the long run, Mr. President, this was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship, and we know what we owe you, but this is the reason why I’m saying that America is again in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war.”
Like other leaders, Merz sought to appeal to Trump’s ego. He presented him with a framed birth certificate of his grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who was born in 1869 and grew up in Kallstadt, Germany, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1885 at age 16.
The juiciest moment of the day came when Trump was asked to address recent attacks levied by former Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk against his tax and spending bill.
Trump painted Musk as a jilted lover, suggesting that Musk’s concerns about the bill since leaving the administration are solely centered on the tax incentives his electric vehicle company, Tesla, will lose if the bill makes it to Trump’s desk in its current form.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump quipped, prompting an acidic response from Musk.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk said on X. “Such ingratitude.”
Merz was elected to succeed his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, last month, though he did not win the required absolute majority of parliamentary votes during the first round of voting.
The German chancellor’s visit is the latest European appeal for continued U.S. support of Ukraine in its war against Russia, including by imposing sanctions on the Kremlin.
“I am looking forward to the visit,” Merz told German reporters on Thursday morning. “We are well-prepared. NATO will be a major topic, as will trade and Ukraine. When we talk about German domestic politics (AFD), I will use clear words… The Chancellery will intensify bilateral talks.”
Meanwhile, Trump, who has sought to distance the U.S. from the peace negotiations in the past month despite promising to end the conflict on his first day in office, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” Trump said on Truth Social. “President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”
Trump is expected to pressure Merz to increase Germany’s defense spending, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has emphasized during his meetings at the NATO defense ministers’ summit this week in Brussels. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed this week that Trump will attend the NATO leaders’ summit this month at The Hague.
During an expanded bilateral meeting Thursday afternoon, Trump, Merz, and their deputies are also anticipated to discuss trade amid negotiations between the U.S. and the European Union over tariffs, according to Dalibor Rohac, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow.
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Aside from the style of how the Trump-Merz on camera meeting goes, Rohac wondered whether Merz will “seek to build explicit bridges with the Trump administration on issues such as Ukraine, NATO, and trade, or does he believe that the transatlantic relationship is past the point when doing so could still be constructive?”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and the EU’s trade negotiator, Maros Sefcovic, met this week in Paris on the sidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.