Friedrich Merz smiled, nodded and hoped his luck would hold in the Oval Office, his third visit in nine months.
The visit was long-planned but attention was greater than usual as the 70-year-old chancellor became the first foreign leader to meet US president Donald Trump, four days after Israel and the US launched a joint strike on Iran.
The war meant Trump had even more to talk about than usual – above all, the “lunatics” in Tehran – while Merz laughed briefly as the president listed everything the strikes had “taken out”: the navy, air force and radar.
Rather than raise concerns over the legality of the strikes, though, Merz backed the US-Israel war, agreeing in brief remarks that there were “too many bad guys in the world”.
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On Europe, Trump adopted the rhetorical carrot and stick approach, saying he and the chancellor had a “great affinity for each other” while ribbing him – or perhaps not – that Washington would hit Germany “very hard” in fresh trade talks, after the US supreme court annulled previous agreements.
But Trump reserved his main ire for “terrible” Spain and the UK, in particular for failing to offer bases for Iran-bound US planes.
In the Oval Office, Merz remained largely silent (until, when a journalist asked how he planned to defend Spain against US trade threats, he sidestepped the question with a general promise to push Madrid to boost its defence spending to agreed Nato levels).
After his three-hour meeting, Merz said he had been more direct behind closed doors in his defence of Spain and the UK. He warned that threats would not ease great trade uncertainty in Europe after the supreme court ruling against Washington’s tariff strategy.
“Spain is a member of the European Union, and as such we are only negotiating a customs agreement with the US jointly or not at all,” he said.
[ Spain says ‘no to war’ in response to Trump threatsOpens in new window ]
By his own account, Merz said he had told Trump his attack on UK prime minister Keir Starmer – as “no Winston Churchill” – was unfair given the “really, really big, very, very valuable contribution” made by London to end the war in Ukraine.
Merz said he had asked Trump to increase pressure on Russia, insisted Ukraine territory must remain intact and demanded Europe be involved in future negotiations on a peace settlement.
“Russia is playing for time here, and in doing so is also acting against the will of the American president,” said Merz to German journalists.
Asked about Trump’s claims that his new tariff regime would impose higher burdens than the one struck down by US judges, Merz said a higher trade burden for the EU was “not up for discussion, for the European Union and also for me personally”.
As a gift, Merz brought a facsimile of the first-ever trade agreement signed by Washington with another state: a 1785 deal with Prussia – nine years after the foundation of the US and 86 years before Prussia became the foundation state of modern Germany.
[ Trump says US-Israel attack on Iran was pre-emptiveOpens in new window ]
Trade deals come and go, and Merz noted how Trump’s focus on trade in goods overlooked the “many times higher” US trade deficit with Europe on services.
“Until now, we have not come upon the idea of imposing these services, that America provides in Europe, with additional tariffs,” he added, leaving open if that might change.
Back at home, as political rivals criticised Merz for failing to raise the Iran strike international law violations, some analysts defended the chancellor.
“How Merz is formulating it, like other leaders, is that international law has to be defended – and defendable – from a position of strength,” said Dr Henrik Ohnesorge, head of the Centre for Global Studies and political scientist at the University of Bonn. “If we are too weak to defend and protect it, then international law doesn’t help us in the hard new reality of international politics.”
