Donald Trump appears to have a new favorite European leader. In the Oval Office this week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz sat beside the unpredictable US president and found himself being praised in the highest terms.
Merz is a “very successful man” and an excellent leader, the president gushed. Other world leaders have had very different experiences at meetings in the White House in recent months.
This week’s visit played out much like Merz’s first visit to the US in summer 2025. Trump talked a lot, ranted and raved, while Merz listened and added a few polite comments. The chancellor stuck to the same tactic this time, too, and tried to address more controversial issues behind closed doors.
Trump is not asking for German boots on the ground
The German chancellor’s visit had been planned for some time — and then took on greater significance after the US and Israel strikes on Iran last weekend. Merz announced in Berlin that Germany stood behind its partners Israel and the US, and condemned Iran’s counterattacks on targets in the region.
But under international law Germany finds itself in a dilemma. The government’s line seemed to be: These attacks violate international law, but we are not opposed to them. That position did not upset the US president, who appears to accept that Germany does not want to participate directly in the war.
“We’re not asking them to put boots on the ground,” Trump said.
Trump threatens Spain, Merz defends EU partner after meeting
Merz had also come to Washington to demonstrate EU unity on issues such as tariffs and the war in Ukraine. He was only partially successful. In the chancellor’s presence, Trump berated Spain for refusing to allow US use of its bases for strikes on Iran and even threatened to stop trading with the EU member.
Merz remained publicly silent about the spat during the Oval Office meeting and admonished Spain on defense spending, urging Madrid to reach 3% or more of GDP. Only after the meeting did he tell German media he had defended Spain behind closed doors: “I told him very clearly: You cannot conclude an isolated agreement with Germany here, or an agreement with the whole of Europe, but not with Spain.”
Visiting Trump “like jumping through a burning hoop”
DW chief political correspondent Michaela Küfner, present during the visit, described it as “always like jumping through a burning political hoop.” Even Merz did not know beforehand where he would land on the other side. The chancellor appeared unprepared for Trump’s harsh words about Spain and initially about the UK, which had also hesitated before ultimately agreeing to let the US use British bases.
Tariffs and trade tensions
Merz had originally planned to focus on Trump’s controversial tariff policy and the war in Ukraine. The US Supreme Court recently struck down a large portion of Trump’s tariffs regime. Now Trump seeks a different legal route to impose blanket 15% tariffs globally, a rate roughly aligned with a 2025 agreement with the EU — an agreement the EU has not finalized, in part because of the recent court ruling and Trump’s earlier threats.
Merz argued that the EU could use the delay to renegotiate, noting a sizable deficit for Europe in services trade with the US. “Trump only ever thinks about the exchange of goods,” the chancellor said, and warned that Europe had not considered imposing special tariffs on American services in Europe — a point he raised for German cameras after the White House meeting.
A symbolic gift and scarce clarity on Ukraine
To underscore the importance of rules and trade, Merz presented Trump with a replica of the 1785 trade agreement between Prussia and the US, the first US treaty with a third country. The gift was meant to represent rule-based order, something critics say Trump has undermined. It is unclear whether Trump was impressed.
There was also little new on Russia’s war in Ukraine, now more than four years old. Merz had told reporters before the trip that renewed US pressure on Moscow would be necessary to secure concessions from President Vladimir Putin, and that any negotiated solution should not be imposed on Europeans. Yet many observers say Europe has increasingly been left out of major decisions.
This article was originally written in German.
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