Berlin
CNN
–
Newly appointed German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz will sit in an oval office on Thursday for his first in-person meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The conference has once again brought a series of high stakes international issues to the forefront. Trump issued another warning to the European Union regarding tariffs. The war in Ukraine appears to be nearing an end. And there is pressure on Israel against the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Since taking office, Merz has been on tours of the European capital, meeting with the ancestors of Kiel in England and the French Emmanuel Macron, Donald Task of Poland.
One major omission was a meeting with Trump. There’s a call between the two, but the handshake with a desperate click on camera shutters marks the beginning of a new German-US relationship.
Germany’s position as a European economic powerhouse and Mertz’s relocation as a leader in European security includes commitment to strengthening the military and in line with demands to increase Trump’s defense spending on NATO members.
It also has the potential to be an explosive diplomatic broadside, as seen as President Zelensky and, more recently, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently criticized Germany’s decision to classify it as a far-right party (certainly right-wing extremists), thus expanding party surveillance.
Both took X and expressed their anger at what was called the “establishment” of Germany for its designation. Secretary Rubio said, “It’s not democracy – it’s a disguised tyranny.”
Vance continued saying that Germany was trying to turn the country into redivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivivi
The German Foreign Ministry said in X that the decision was democratic. “The results of a thorough and independent investigation to protect the constitution and the rule of law.”
A few days later, Mertz rejected the statement, saying, “Germany was freed from tyranny by the United States. Germany is stable, liberal and democratic today. There is no need for lessons from democratic salvation.”
But what we can expect is that this will be a heartfelt meeting.
Wolfgang Isinger, former German US ambassador, told CNN that Merz is “fully prepared” for the conference, saying the prime minister’s personality and communication methods will help him beat the president.
“He doesn’t etch his words… It’s not Friedrich Merz’s style. He says his thoughts. He’s transparent. He’s directly. And I hope that Donald Trump expects.”
That directness has already raised eyebrows in several quarters, particularly regarding Europe’s relations with the United States.
He said that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on the center right of Mertz and its sister parties will win the biggest vote on February 23, making it likely to become the next prime minister. He added that the Trump administration “doesn’t really care about the fate of Europe.”
Meltz also had several other choice words for the United States for the days after the election.
And last week, he delivered Riposte to comments made by Vice President JD Vance at a security conference in Munich earlier this year, where he accused European allies of backslides about freedom of expression.
Vance raised the question, “We can imagine the strongest and best answer.” “They’re excited to be a part of the world,” Mertz said in Berlin on Thursday.
Despite these comments, Claudia Major, senior vice president of the German Marshall Fund, a think tank focused on US relations, rated the “tone being rejected” by Mertz since the election.
She said that on May 8, Meltz called Trump and said, “The United States is an essential friend and partner in Germany.”
At the business summit a few days later, Meltz revealed that he had invited Trump to Germany. As part of that trip, he accompanied the US president to the rural town of Bad Durkheim, the childhood home of Trump’s paternal grandfather.
And recently there was German cooperation with the US on NATO’s defense spending.
Meltz and his government show that longtime Trump demands that members of the alliance increase their spending on defense to 5% of GDP, urging them to adhere to Trump for years and agree to others.
However, building positive relationships is likely Germany’s main ambition for the White House meeting. And Merz’s previous role and experience could play a major role in bringing it to it.
Previously heading “Atlantik Brucke,” or the Atlantic Bridge, a think tank that promotes German-US relations, Merz is known to be a keen supporter of transatlantic relations in Germany.
While at Atlantic Bridge, he was a massive defender of the US EU trade agreement and spoke openly about his praise for former US President Ronald Reagan. He also understands the world of companies working on many boards, including the US global investment company BlackRock.
Ischinger, currently chair of the Munich Security Council’s Board of Trustees, said:
The Major also says that many are in danger. She understands that the German government needs to maintain good relations with the White House, but she told CNN about her commitment to defending Trump administration and European NATO allies, especially given the threat posed by an increasingly curious Russia.
The challenge was that Germany said “cannot afford to leave the Americans.” “At the same time, we don’t want them to leave because we think it’s better to be together,” she added.
She points to the German Union Agreement (the contract between essentially two Union parties, the CDU and the Central Left Social Democrats (SPD), on how to govern Germany), and a major change in the constitution can unleash expenditures on the US$5 trillion as an indicator of competing sentiment.
The revision of Germany’s constitutional debt brakes, pushed through by Mertz in March before he officially became prime minister, was “a revolutionary change by German standards,” the major said. But it was forced, she said, because it seemed essential because “the international relations have changed dramatically.”
At the same time, she said the coalition deal reads as if everything about transatlantic relations was working properly. “If you were such a great partner, why did we need constitutional change?” asked the Major.
A Western diplomat who was not permitted to speak before the meeting told CNN that Merz’s most recent words were “tactical and strategic.”
Sources added that it is still in Germany’s interest to have good relations with the US and find ways to work together, as Germany believes that it will “grow (and take care of it) (itself)” and the Prime Minister doesn’t see it as “the next three years.”
Ischinger also sees playing pragmatism, suggesting that Meltz attempts to replicate the personal relationship that was built with Trump by Macron.
The German Prime Minister said, “If Donald Trump is a dedicated European, he would like to assure him that Friedrich Mertz understands that it does not mean that Friedrich Mertz will make the Atlantic more widespread.
