German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sought on Sunday to calm tensions with the United States after a public exchange with President Donald Trump over the war in Iran. In an interview with broadcaster ARD, Merz downplayed the row and said he would continue to work on transatlantic ties.
Merz said Trump’s decision to withdraw about 5,000 US troops from bases in Germany was not surprising and should not be interpreted as retaliation. He told ARD the troop cuts had “no connection” to the recent disagreements and stressed he was not abandoning efforts to maintain the partnership.
“I am not giving up on working on the transatlantic relationship,” Merz said. “Nor am I giving up on working with Donald Trump.”
The spat began after Merz said Tehran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table. Trump publicly criticized Merz, accused him of being indifferent to the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon and attacked Germany’s economic performance. Those comments were followed by the troop reduction announcement and proposed higher tariffs on cars and trucks from the EU, measures that would disproportionately affect Germany.
Merz is the latest European leader to be publicly rebuked by Trump over differing views on the Iran conflict; Spain and the UK have also been involved in disputes with the US president. Despite their disagreements over the conduct of the war, Merz said he and Trump share the fundamental objective that Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon.
“We have a different view of this war. That’s no secret,” Merz told ARD. “I’m not the only one who feels that way. But that does not alter the fact that I remain convinced that the Americans are important partners for us, our most important partners in the North Atlantic alliance.”
On defence matters, Merz indicated that a planned delivery of US long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany would likely not go ahead in the near term. “As I see it at the moment, objectively speaking, there is hardly any possibility of the US supplying weapons systems of this kind,” he said, adding that the Americans currently do not have sufficient stocks.
The Tomahawk transfer had been discussed under former US president Joe Biden as part of steps to strengthen deterrence against Russian aggression. Merz said ongoing conflicts in Iran and Ukraine are straining US military supplies but left open the possibility that circumstances could change in future.