Friedrich Merz was bracing for a bust-up on his first visit to the Oval Office since becoming German Chancellor. The warning signs were flashing red, after JD Vance’s speech attacking Berlin’s democratic standards at the Munich Security Conference and Marco Rubio’s recent declaration that Germany was acting like a “tyranny.” But despite all that, the first Merz-Trump meeting turned out to be harmonious. Why? In this edition of Berlin Briefing, Michaela Küfner in Washington and Nina Haase and Richard Walker in Berlin look for answers – in Merz’s strategy, Trump’s memories of Angela Merkel, and the best thing any politician can hope for: luck. And they look beyond the moment to the warning signs – particularly in Trump’s comments on the Ukraine war.
LINKS
Michaela’s interview with Friedrich Merz
New polling on German views of the US
Richard on whether Trump has a foreign policy strategy
DW Business on whether Trump has an economic philosophy
Trump’s treatment of Ramaphosa
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:49 “They clearly hit it off”
3:34 The risks
5:49 Reverse filibustering
7:43 WW2 references
9:49 The King card
13:40 Ukraine war
18:10 Avoiding an argument
21:36 Vance keeps quiet
22:57 The Merkel factor
28:04 What Trump wants
29:43 Trump’s humor
34:17 German media reaction
40:36 Merz’s ratings
42:55 What Germans want
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