President Trump \u2019s relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel seemingly couldn\u2019t get any colder. The two have been at odds since before his presidency began.\u2026<\/b>
\nPresident Trump \u2019s relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel seemingly couldn\u2019t get any colder.
The two have been at odds since before his presidency began.
Trump ripped Merkel during the campaign and didn’t shake her hand the first time she visited Washington after his inauguration.
Merkel, who enjoyed a strong relationship with President Obama, has responded in kind. Her office released a now-famous photo after the G-7 summit in Canada earlier this year that appeared to depict her staring down Trump. For many, the photo highlighted Trump’s isolation among western leaders.
On policies, the two are far apart.
Trump’s \u201cAmerica First\u201d agenda has meant tariffs on German exports and a hard public line on taking in immigrants and refugees. Merkel has pressed for free trade and more open borders, though she faces resistance to some of those policies at home.
On Wednesday, relations sank even lower, with President Trump kicking off a NATO summit by accusing the U. S. ally of being a Russian \u201ccaptive.\u201d
The cumulative effect could chip away at the U. S.\u2019s relationship with the person many consider Europe\u2019s de facto leader, and undermine the unity of the NATO alliance as a whole.
\u201cI think it\u2019s just stormy seas ahead for U. S.-German relations, and particularly Trump I think is using the visit to Brussels as an opening salvo in a potentially wider trade war with key members of the EU like Germany,\u201d said Mark Simakovsky, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
Trump started using Merkel as a foil during the presidential campaign, first attacking her immigration policies as \u201cinsane\u201d during an October 2015 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d interview.
A couple months later, Merkel was named Time\u2019s Person of the Year for 2015.
\u201cI told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany,\u201d Trump tweeted then.
Since becoming president, Trump has repeatedly attacked Merkel for Germany\u2019s defense spending. Last year, he tweeted that Germany owes the United States \u201cvast sums of money\u201d for failing to meet NATO\u2019s spending goal.
And he attacked her policies after the G-7 summit in June, claiming incorrectly on Twitter that crime in Germany had gone up by 10 percent following Merkel’s decision to allow refugees into the country.
The latest chapter of their saga unfolded during the first day of NATO\u2019s summit.
At a breakfast with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday, Trump railed against Germany for its defense spending and plans for a gas pipeline with Russia.
\u201cGermany is totally controlled by Russia, because they will be getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline,\u201d Trump said. \u201cSo we have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that\u2019s being paid to the country that we\u2019re supposed to be protecting you against.\u2026 Now, if you look at it, Germany is a captive of Russia because they supply.\u201d
Merkel shot back, drawing a contrast to the history of Soviet-controlled East Germany, where she grew up.
«I wanted to say that, because of current events, I have witnessed this myself, that a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. And I am very happy that we are today unified in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany,» Merkel said in her arrival remarks at the summit.
Despite the bitter morning, Trump and Merkel played nice in a one-on-one meeting later Wednesday.
\u201cWe have a very, very good relationship with the chancellor,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe have a tremendous relationship with Germany.»
Merkel responded by saying she was \u201cvery pleased, indeed, to have this opportunity here for this exchange of views.\u2026 I think they\u2019re very important to have those exchanges together. Because after all, we are partners, we are good partners, and we wish to continue to cooperate in the future.\u201d
Germany indeed falls under the goal of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense. Germany is expected to hit 1.24 percent this year, according to NATO figures.
But the 2 percent goal that was set in 2014 is meant to be reached in 2024. Further, the goal is for each country\u2019s own defense budget, meaning those that do not hit it do not owe other NATO countries money.
Merkel, who has faced challenges to her leadership at home in recent months, has pledged to boost Germany\u2019s defense spending. But Berlin is still expected to fall short of the 2 percent goal, with plans to reach 1.5 percent by 2024.
Germany faces challenges in achieving the 2 percent target. Because of the size of its economy, it would need to more than double its defense budget to meet the goal.
That\u2019s a tall order for any country, but Germany in particular has been averse to boosts in military spending since World War II.
Germany also argues that it would have trouble absorbing such a large increase at such a fast pace. And Merkel also has to balance competing interests in her so-called \u201cgrand coalition\u201d government, where Christian Democratic Union shares power with the left-leaning Social Democrats.
Still, few disagree that Germany, the largest economy in Europe, should be spending more. And the Obama administration, too, opposed the Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline known as Nord Stream 2.
Trump\u2019s blunt approach and personal swipes at Merkel, though, have rubbed even some of his supporters the wrong way.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), the most senior Republican in the Senate, called out Trump on Wednesday for his criticism of Germany and said the president was being overly critical of Merkel.
\u201cI have really the highest opinion of her and those who are with her,\u201d Hatch said. \u201cI think sometimes you can be a little too critical of the other counterparts. I don\u2019t think we should be critical. She\u2019s really good.\u201d
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who has sparred with Trump on foreign policy and trade, worried about publicly calling out an ally like Germany amid threats to Europe from Russia.
\u201cI couldn\u2019t agree more that every country needs to get to 2 percent, especially Germany,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, people are making improvements, and I think just harsh rhetoric relative to NATO partners is not something that takes us to a good place.\u201d
He added that Trump has taken U. S.-German relations to an \u201cunnecessary\u201d place.
\u201cThe German people have a diminished view of our nation right now,\u201d Corker said. \u201cAt the end of the day, what is important is what our citizens think and feel, but it\u2019s just unnecessary. It\u2019s unnecessary for us to be in this place.\u201d
Jim Carafano, a defense expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation who worked on the Trump transition, dismissed talk of lasting damage to relations as \u201chistrionics.\u201d
For example, he argued, U. S.-German relations survived turmoil in the 1980s amid disagreements over President Reagan\u2019s plans to deploy intermediate-range missiles to Europe.
\u201cAt the end of the day, the U. S.-German strategic partnership is going to be fine,\u201d he said. \u201cThe bedrock of the relationship is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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