Merz meets Trump in biggest diplomatic test to date
Germany’s new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, became the latest leader to brave a potential Oval Office ambush today as he arrived in Washington for his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.
The public part of their meeting appeared fairly unfiery. Merz politely told Trump he wanted more pressure on Russia to end the war, insisting the US is in a strong position to bring the conflict to an end. Trump in turn likened the war Putin is waging in Ukraine to "two children fighting in a park".
Merz, an avowed transatlanticist, attempted to woo Trump ahead of the trip by appealing to his German ancestry and inviting the US President to visit the medieval, wine-making German village of Kallstadt, birthplace of his grandfather Friedrich Trump. Today, in the Oval Office, he followed up by presenting Trump with the birth certificate of his grandfather.
The German leader would have been concerned in the lead-up to today’s meeting that Trump may attempt to seek vengeance for Merz’s fiery election night comments.
Europe “must seek independence from the USA,” declared the 69-year-old, upon victory, back in February, as he labelled the Trump administration “largely indifferent to the fate of Europe”.
These comments were made at a time of heightened anger in Europe that Trump was seemingly throwing Ukraine under the bus. Some welcomed his frankness while others labelled it a short-sighted outburst that would only further encourage the US to retreat from its responsibilities as Europe’s security guarantor.
Defence will be a key point of conversation - and potential contention - during the White House meeting today.
During his first term, Trump attacked Germany as a free-riding “delinquent” when it came to NATO defence spending.
Only today, at a NATO meeting in Brussels, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth repeated his demand that all alliance members commit to spending 5% of GDP on defence, the subtext being that Washington could withdraw from the military alliance altogether if other members don’t start to pull their weight.
Merz will want to prove to Trump today that Europe’s economic engine - but reluctant military power - is stepping up.
He has concrete examples to point to. Merz has promised a massive increase in military spending and taken the major step of reforming Germany's constitutionally enshrined spending limit, known as the “debt brake”, in order to fund it. He has also vowed to build the “strongest conventional army” in Europe and launched Germany’s first permanent foreign troop deployment since the Second World War: an armoured brigade of 4,800 German soldiers in Lithuania, aimed at protecting NATO’s eastern flank.
He will be hoping Trump is suitably impressed by such efforts because, despite his bold election night comments, achieving “independence from the USA” is not the path Merz desires for Europe. More recently in May, on a trip to NATO Headquarters in Brussels, he changed his tune considerably, labelling the US an “indispensable for Europe’s security today and for a long time to come”.
Security aside, tariffs will be another big talking point today.
Merz will be doing what he can to take the heat of out of the EU-US trade war, as both sides struggle to make a deal and Trump threatens to whack 50 per cent tariffs on the bloc. On the tariff front, protecting Berlin’s beleaguered car industry will be top of the Chancellor’s agenda.
Another potential point of contention today will be Germany’s far-right opposition party. While the AfD’s number one American cheerleader, Elon Musk, has left the Oval Office, Trump’s deputy, J.D Vance, during his notorious Munich speech, attacked Germany’s mainstream political parties for erecting a firewall around AfD, citing it as evidence of Europe’s so-called democratic backsliding.
World leaders, from Ukraine’s Zelensky to South Africa’s Ramaphosa, are fast learning that Oval Office encounters with Donald Trump mean preparing for an ambush. Yet, it appears as though Merz got off fairly lightly. Trump seems rather more distracted today by his spat with his former First Buddy.
Caitlin Allen
Deputy Editor
ON REACTION TODAY
Jonah Munn
What Britain can learn from Denmark on immigration and integration
ALSO KNOW
Reform in-fighting intensifies - Zia Yusuf resigned as the chairman of Reform UK today, saying "I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time". It comes after he said it was “dumb” for the party's newest MP to call on Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka. Reform leader Nigel Farage said he was "genuinely sorry" Yusuf was resigning, writing on social media: "Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life." Look out for analysis on this story from Iain Martin, landing in Subscribers’ inboxes later tonight.
Trump’s travel ban - Donald Trump has signed a proclamation banning individuals from 12 countries from entering the US, including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen, among others.
Starmer expands free school meals - Any child in England whose parents receive Universal Credit will be able to claim free school meals from September next year.
Stride-Truss spat - Mel Stride, the Conservative shadow chancellor, has apologised for Liz Truss’s 2022 “mini-Budget”. Truss retorted that Stride is a “creature of the system”.
FIVE THINGS
The Financial Times delves into the new nicotine hit that’s making Big Tobacco skyrocket.
Is Scotland ready for Reform? UnHerd’s Max Mitchell examines the discontent that Farage is harnessing.
Britain’s new-build nightmare. The New Statesman investigates how the dream of home ownership ran into an under-regulated market.
Populists vs. spies. The battle for authority in Israel and beyond. War on the Rocks.
The Spectator looks at Richard Hermer’s campaign against Britain.