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Germany’s Merz Lets Trump Do the Talking and Survives Oval Office Meeting

Liana Fix on Trump and Merz, German Spending, Trade

Takeaways

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz successfully navigated a 40-minute meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office without falling victim to the public humiliation the American president has doled out to other leaders — even though both Germany and Europe are two of Trump’s perpetual irritants.

Merz heeded the advice from a number of European leaders that he should let Trump do most of the talking, and when he did talk, to praise the president. Merz faded into the background for much of the meeting, breaking his silence to say that Germany owes “the Americans a lot.”