In contrast to new bilateral encounters with other foreign leaders, President Donald Trump met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, which was greatly different.
Trump blocked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit last month by rolling out a broadcast in the Oval Office, playing videos of opposition leaders calling for the shooting of Afrikaner farmers, and constantly pressuring Ramaphosa to solve murder claims in his state.
However, the two leaders gave typically vague political-speak responses to a number of subjects at Thursday’s bilateral meeting, including the conflict in Ukraine and business tensions between the United States and Europe.
Merz and other Western leaders made an effort to inspire Trump to put more pressure on Russia to put an end to the battle in Ukraine. He noted that the meeting on Thursday occurred one day before the” when the Americans after ended a war in Europe,” which would have taken place on June 6.
Trump chuckled in reply,” That was not a pleasant time for you.”
” No, that was not pleasant,” Merz said. However, in the long run, Mr. President, this was the country’s independence from the Nazi regime, and we are aware of this duty. As a result, I’m saying that America is once more in a very powerful position to fight this conflict and put an end to it.
Merz and other leaders made an effort to charm to Trump’s self. He gave his father, Friedrich Trump, a illustrated birth certificate, to him. He was born in 1869 and raised in Kallstadt, Germany, before immigrating to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16.
The moment when Trump was asked to address new problems on his income and spending bill by former head of the Department of Government Performance, Elon Musk, was the juiciest of the day.
Trump depicted Musk as a drunken lover, suggesting that Tesla, his electric vehicle company, has sole concern over the tax breaks that the bill will result in for Trump’s office in its current form.
” Elon and I had a fantastic relationship. Trump made a jibe, which caused Musk to slam him harshly.
Trump would have lost the election without me, Dems would have won the House, and Republicans would have been 51-49 in the Senate, Musk claimed on X. ” Such indolence.”
Despite not receiving the required absolute majority of parliamentary votes during the first round of voting, Merz was elected to take Olaf Scholz’s place last month.  ,
The German chancellor’s visit is the most recent European plea for continued U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, including by putting sanctions on the Kremlin.  ,
Merz told German reporters on Thursday morning,” I’m looking forward to the visit.” We are prepared,” he said. A significant topic will be NATO, as will trade and Ukraine. I will use succinct language when talking about German domestic politics ( AFD ). The Chancellery will bolster bilateral discussions.
Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, who has attempted to distance the United States from the peace negotiations in the past month despite promising to end the conflict on his first day in office.  ,
Trump said on Truth Social,” It was a good conversation, but it wasn’t one that will lead to immediate peace.” President Putin did state with great conviction that he would have to react to the recent airfield attack.
As Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stated during his meetings at the NATO defense ministers ‘ summit this week in Brussels, Trump is expected to exert pressure on Merz to increase Germany’s defense spending. Trump will attend the NATO leaders ‘ summit this month in The Hague, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who confirmed this week.
According to Dalibor Rohac, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Trump, Merz, and their deputies are also anticipated to discuss trade in the course of tariff negotiations with the United States and the European Union on Thursday afternoon during an expanded bilateral meeting.
MUSK SAYS TRUMP WOULD HAVE LOST ELECTION IF HE WAS HELF OF A PUBLIC DISPUTE.
Rohac questioned whether Merz would” seek explicit bridges with the Trump administration on issues like Ukraine, NATO, and trade,” or whether the transatlantic relationship is past the point where acting in that way might still be beneficial.
On the occasion of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and EU trade negotiator Maros Sefcovic met in Paris this week.
