Donald Trump will meet Germany’s Friedrich Merz on Tuesday for his first meeting with a foreign leader since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran.
The long-scheduled White House meeting, which was supposed to focus on the war in Ukraine and rocky EU-US trade relations, is part of a wider effort to protect transatlantic ties.
But Trump’s signal that airstrikes against Iran could continue for weeks has raised the global agenda, with Tehran hitting back against US bases and allies in the region.
Merz, a harsh critic of the Islamic Republic’s leadership, said Berlin shared the Iranian people’s “relief” that “the mullah regime is coming to an end”.
Yet he refused to “lecture” the United States and Israel on the legitimacy of Iran’s strikes aimed at ending Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs.
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Germany, France and Britain also said they would only help their allies in the Gulf in “defensive action” against Iran.
It drew condemnation from US officials for its “soft” response to “Operation Epic Fury” – potentially putting Merz in the firing line to Trump’s ire.
French President Emmanuel Macron later said eight European countries had agreed to join his plan to use France’s nuclear stockpile to boost security on the continent – with Germany “an important partner in this effort”.
Amicable relations
Merz, 70, a Christian Democrat with multipartisan tendencies, and Trump, 79, a property tycoon and former reality TV star, are deeply divisive.
But Merz has managed to maintain cordial relations with Trump and escape his wrath or ridicule.
He did this in part by meeting a key Trump demand for increased defense spending among European NATO members, along with a huge increase in German investments.
But Merz has at times pushed back against the mercurial US president, particularly over Ukraine, and insists Europe should become more sovereign in a time of geopolitical upheaval.
At February’s Munich Security Conference, Merz noted a “deep rift” between traditional allies and urged the US to “repair and revive transatlantic trust together”.
In their first White House meeting last June, Merz challenged Trump to increase pressure on Moscow to end the “terrible” Ukraine war.
Trump at the time called Merz “a very nice person to deal with” and quipped that he was “difficult” — a comment that was widely read as approving rather than critical.
Merz also played up Trump’s German family roots, presenting him with his grandfather’s German birth certificate and inviting him to visit his ancestral homeland.
When it comes to Trump’s tariff blitz, Merz explains the EU’s “combined position”, adding that “businesses need project security, and this applies on both sides of the Atlantic”.
Germany’s mechanical engineering lobby group urged them to “use the good relationship with US President Trump to achieve a comprehensive and credible tariff agreement between the EU and the USA”, despite the “current focus on the Iran war”.
(With FRANCE 24 AFP)
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