Donald Trump
appeared to deny the German chancellor Angela Merkel a handshake
during a photo opportunity with the press at the White House on
Friday. Trump and Merkel met earlier for a bilateral meeting in the
Oval Office where they were expected to talk about strengthening
Nato, fighting the Islamic State group and resolving Ukraine’s
conflict
Trump
and Merkel can't hide fundamental differences in first visit
German
leader defended stance on refugees and globalisation while US
president again used the phrase ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ in
first face-to-face meeting
Friday 17 March 2017
19.56 GMT Last modified on Saturday 18 March 2017 00.05 GMT
Donald Trump and the
German chancellor, Angela Merkel, struck a conciliatory tone at their
first face-to-face meeting on Friday, but there was little disguising
their fundamental differences in policy and style.
Merkel said she was
“gratified” that the US president pledged support for Nato and
the Minsk peace process in Ukraine. Trump insisted that he is a
believer in free trade and declared: “I am not an isolationist.”
But it was hard to
escape the testy relationship between the bookish woman now seen as a
crucial bulwark of the postwar liberal order and the brash
businessman who rose to power on a populist tide.
Merkel, who
addressed the media through an interpreter, said: “It’s always
better to talk to one another than about one another.” But at times
the odd couple appeared to talk past each other.
The German
chancellor used the opportunity to defend her stance on refugees,
globalisation and “win-win” trade deals, while Trump again used
the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” and set out an economic
nationalist vision that would put American workers first.
His backing for the
Nato alliance, he made clear, came with caveats. “I reiterated to
Chancellor Merkel my strong support for Nato as well as the need for
our Nato allies to pay their fair share for the cost of defence,”
he said. “Many nations owe vast sums of money from past years and
it is very unfair to the United States. These nations must pay what
they owe.”
Merkel had been
accompanied to Washington by German business leaders, and trade was a
clear point of potential disagreement. Trump has previously warned
German car companies he would impose a border tax of 35% on vehicles
imported to the US market.
A German journalist
challenged Trump over his potential to weaken the EU and his
criticism of “fake news” in the media. Trump said sarcastically:
“Nice, friendly reporter.”
He went on: “First
of all, I don’t believe in an isolationist policy. But I also
believe a policy of trade should be a fair policy and the United
States has been treated very, very unfairly by many countries over
the years, and that’s going to stop. But I’m not an isolationist.
I’m a free trader but I’m also a fair trader.”
Trump added: “I
don’t know what newspaper you’re reading but I guess that would
be another example of, as you say, fake news.”
Angela Merkel had
been accompanied to Washington by German business leaders, and trade
was a clear point of potential disagreement. Photograph: Joshua
Roberts/Reuters
Merkel was careful
not to disagree directly but said Germany’s success has been
intertwined with European unity and integration. “I believe
globalisation ought to be shaped in an open-minded way but also in a
fair way. Freedom of movement within the European Union, for example,
is a very important element of our economic progress, of peace, has
been for many decades.”
She acknowledged
that immigration and integration “have to be worked on” and said
refugees should be given the opportunity to “shape their lives
where they are”. These were issues that she and Trump had an
“exchange of views” about, she added.
Trump cut back in to
say: “All I want is fairness. Germany’s done very well in its
trade deals with the United States and I give them credit for it.”
But looking further
afield, he said Nafta has been a “disaster” for the US and
promised: “We are going to be a very different country. We’re
going to have great values … Our trade deals are going to be good
solid deals, not deals that lead to closing plants and tremendous
unemployment.”
Referring to Trump’s
unsubstantiated claims that Barack Obama had wiretapped his phones
and press secretary Sean Spicer’s repeating of an equally
evidence-free claim that British intelligence had helped, another
German journalist asked Trump if he ever regretted certain tweets.
“Very seldom,” he said. “I can get around the media when the
media doesn’t tell the truth.”
He said Spicer had
only been quoting “a talented lawyer” who had been speaking on
Fox News. “We said nothing,” Trump argued. “All we did was
quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible
for saying that on television.”
Then, in a strained
moment, he said: “This past administration, at least we have
something in common perhaps.”
It was a reference
to the alleged tapping of Merkel’s phone by the US National
Security Agency – an incident that was reported to have infuriated
Merkel when it came to light in 2013.
There was some
laughter in the East Room of the White House but she remained silent.
The German
chancellor had thanked Trump for “the warm and gracious
hospitality” but there was an awkward moment in the Oval Office
before the press conference when the two leaders sat for
photographers, who shouted a request for them to shake hands.
Merkel turned to
Trump and asked: “Do you want to have a handshake?” The president
ignored her and kept looking straight ahead, his hands clasped
together. Merkel looked at the photographers with a half-smile,
half-grimace.
The piece of
pantomime was in stark contrast to the visit of Theresa May in
January. As they walked from the Oval Office down a small ramp, Trump
spontaneously took the British prime minister’s hand, an image that
was splashed across British newspapers the following day.
In the run-up to the
trip, German media warned that the chancellor would struggle to find
the right tone and body language for the first meeting between the
two contrasting politicians.
A straight-talking,
critical approach would have proven popular with the German public –
especially with a general election looming in September. But Merkel
is aware that America remains her country’s most important economic
and military ally.
The Guardian view on
Donald Trump and alliances: he doesn’t do them
“A vast majority
of the German public isn’t well-inclined towards Trump,” said
Süddeutsche Zeitung. “A lot of people of people will watch closely
how Merkel conducts herself.”
“Finding the right
measure of warmth and distance won’t be easy,” Der Spiegel wrote.
Throughout his
campaign, the US president had criticised the German leader’s
handling of the refugee crisis, saying her behaviour was “insane”
and that she was “ruining Germany”.
Yet in the run-up to
their first meeting, Merkel’s advisers had projected optimism,
saying they were hopeful that particularly the “close
collaboration” with the Obama administration on the Ukraine crisis
could be continued under Trump’s stewardship.
By flying to the US
with an entourage of top industrial managers in tow, the German
chancellor had made clear that the priority of the trip was to
convince the US president of the value of free trade – especially
with German firms – rather than to lecture him on refugee
conventions or the values of a free press.
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