Donald Trump hosts Germany’s Angela
Merkel at the White House Friday, a
meeting delayed by a snowstorm and still
clouded by a storm of words between
the two ostensible allies.
The cautious German chancellor and the
impulsive US president will hold talks in
the Oval Office, hoping to narrow
differences on NATO, Russia, global trade
and a host of other issues.
Talks had been scheduled for Tuesday,
before a blizzard in the eastern United
States intervened and delayed the likely
difficult meeting.
For years Merkel — a trained physicist —
had been president Barack Obama’s
closest international partner, with the
two sharing a strong rapport and a
similar deliberative approach.
With Trump, Merkel may settle for
avoiding an open argument or a 140-
character Twitter missive.
Before coming to office the US president
called Merkel’s acceptance of refugees a
“catastrophic mistake” and said she was
“ruining Germany.”
He also demanded countries like
Germany step up defense spending, a
sensitive issue for a nation that has had a
strong pacifist tradition since World War
II and proselytizes fiscal prudence.
In a similar vein, Merkel has sought to
remind the real estate mogul of
democratic values.
Any “close cooperation,” she said, must
be on the basis of the “values of
democracy, freedom, respect for the rule
of law and human dignity, regardless of
origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual
orientation or political belief.”
Comments like that have prompted some
of Trump’s fiercest critics to declare
Merkel the new “leader of the free
world,” a moniker normally taken up by
the occupant of the White House.
– Voice of Europe –
Between meetings the pair will hold a
joint press conference that is sure to
dredge up past barbed disagreements.
“Germany looks toward Washington with
a mixture of vulnerability and
confidence,” said Jeffrey Rathke of the
Center for Strategic and International
Studies.
“Germany is the de facto leader of the
European Union, but the Union is
undergoing internal and external trials
that make its future uncertain,” he
added.
“And Germany has placed all of its
security eggs in multilateral baskets.”
Since coming to office Trump has
tempered his comments slightly, but is
still likely to press for higher defense
spending.
And European officials still fret that
Trump has too closely embraced the
nationalist ideology of key advisor Steve
Bannon.
Bannon who has championed trade
protectionism and opposed the European
Union and other multilateral institutions
that underpin the world order.
Merkel is sure to raise the issue of a
proposed US border tariff that would hit
German manufacturers hard. To
underscore the point she will bring a
host of German business leaders along
for the trip.
Before departing for the United States,
Merkel also noted she will be going to
Washington as an envoy of Germany, but
also Europe.
“I will of course point out that for us, our
country and our membership in the
European Union are two sides of the
same coin,” Merkel said ahead of the
visit.
But in a conciliatory tone, a White House
official said that Trump will seek out
Merkel’s views on Russia.
That is a nod to her years on the
international stage and experience
growing up in communist East Germany,
where she learned Russian.
“The president will be very interested in
hearing the Chancellor’s views on her
experience in interacting with Putin,”
said the official, on condition of
anonymity.
“Of course she has been doing this for
more than a decade,” the official said.
“He’s going to be very interested in
hearing her insights on what it’s like to
deal with the Russians.”
Trump’s own background may also help
break the ice.
His family hails from Kallstadt, a tidy
village nestled in southwest Germany’s
lush wine country.
His grandparents left for America more
than a century ago fleeing poverty and
later, after a brief return, trouble with
the law.
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