They have the numbers of their private cells and they call each another "Donald" and "Friedrich". But apart from a brief gathering a fewer years ago in fresh York, they never met again. Until now: the fresh German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Conservative CDU is on his way to Donald Trump with an inaugural visit. He's staying at Blair home right next to the White House, which is considered a peculiar honor. Queen Elizabeth of large Britain and French president Charles de Gaulle besides stayed there.
However, only a fewer weeks ago, Merz reacted sharply to the action of the president of the United States. Donald Trump and Vice president J.D. Vance humiliated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenski before the planet public and blamed him for Russia's aggression on his country.
Merz besides found it offensive how Vance and another Trump associates showed support for the extremist AfD.
Trump repeated 1 word
The Chancellor late spoke of his feelings before visiting Washington and told how his first telephone conversation with Donald Trump was going. At WDR Europaforum he said, "It is always crucial not to talk so long, but to talk briefly and to let him talk too." As he reported, all second-third word spoken by the president of the United States is "great".
"It is essential to adapt and contact him. At the same time, you cannot present yourself as individual smaller than you truly are," said Merz. "We are not beggars."
Carlo Masala, a prof. of global politics at the University of Bundeswehr in Munich, besides advises that erstwhile talking to Trump, he keep confidence. In an interview with NDR Info, the expert advised the Chancellor: “It must seem assertive but at the same time consistently give Trump the feeling that he is simply a statesman who has a real vision. I believe that specified flattery together with European self-consciousness is the right strategy, but there is no warrant that it will yet succeed."
The Germans did their homework
Talks in Washington will most likely focus on 3 themes: Ukraine wars, customs disputes and Europe's contribution to security.
In this last area, Merz is already operational. Trump repeatedly complained about insufficient spending to defend any European partners from NATO, including Germany, and threatened to retreat US support. Now Merz can say that Germany intends to massively arm itself: in the future, they are to allocate 5%. GDP: 3.5 percent straight on the military and 1.5 percent on defence-related infrastructure.
Germany besides wants to lead Europe on this issue. The best evidence for this was a joint visit to Kiev of the heads of state and government of Germany, France, large Britain and Poland, initiated by Merz. This besides meets the American requirements for Europe to address its own safety policy. In return, Merz and another European Heads of Government are counting on cooperation with the US to increase the force on Vladimir Putin.
Merz is not negotiating in the customs dispute, as trade policy is an EU area. But Germany as an export country is peculiarly affected by trade restrictions. US import duties on steel and aluminium have just doubled to 50 percent. The Chancellor will most likely lobby both Trump and Brussels to avoid an escalation of the trade conflict in which everyone will lose.
The United States will abandon Europe?
Friedrich Merz is simply a supporter of transatlantic cooperation. He will most likely effort to convince Donald Trump that it is besides in the interests of America to keep the US engaged in Europe. However, political scientist Carlo Masala is simply a pessimist: "I believe that the long-term strategy that can be developed is based on the presumption that the United States will retreat from negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and no longer specify itself as a power in Europe."
Europeans must so consider what they are willing to do if the U.S. were to vanish as Ukraine’s most crucial ally: “And show velocity in terms of European defence and sovereignty. It is simply a long-term strategy."
Disputes between Germany and the US are multiple, with Friedrich Merz and Donald Trump being completely different personalities. But the Chancellor is determined to face the president openly. "I don't request valeriana to stay calm and have a sensible conversation with the American president," he said late in the ZDF. However, he will most likely deliberately avoid hard topics specified as Trump administration sympathy for AfD. abroad Minister Johann Wadephul besides refrained from commenting on this in Washington.
The Palatinate Trumpets
In Germany, along with a fresh government, composed of conservative CDU/CSU and social democrats, a fresh kind besides entered abroad policy. erstwhile Green abroad Minister Annalena Baerbock was sometimes criticized for her moralist, teaching statements. Now the government wants to focus again on common interests and seeking compromises, even with hard partners. The Trump administration undoubtedly belongs to them.
But in Trump’s case, surprises cannot be ruled out, says Carlo Masala: “Friedrich Merz said the right thing on election night: you can no longer trust on the US. So if Donald Trump says 1 thing today, there is no warrant that he will not say and will not do the exact other tomorrow.”
Even before his inaugural visit to Washington, Friedrich Merz invited the president of the United States to visit his ancestral homeland. Trump's grandpa Friedrich Trump came from the wine town of Kallstadt, Palatinate (land of Rhineland-Palatinate) and emigrated to the US. It is not yet known whether Trump accepted the invitation. possibly he prefers to wait and see how his conversation with Merze goes.
The article was originally published on the pages of the German DW Drafting.
