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Germany’s Chancellor And US President Mend Fences Ahead Of D-Day

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON/BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump praised Germany for spending more money on defense and, in a turnaround, pledged that he would not withdraw all remaining American troops from there.

Trump spoke in the White House Oval Office with recently elected German Chancellor Frederich Merz sitting beside him.

Part of their discussions was the ongoing war in Ukraine and how to prevent an outright transatlantic trade war over tariffs between the U.S. and Europe. Trump has agreed to delay 50 percent tariffs on goods from the European Union until July 9 unless a deal is struck.

Contrary to previous chancellors, Merz said the Nordstream 2 natural gas pipeline project from Russia to Germany “was a mistake” and underscored Germany’s readiness to deepen ties with the United States.

Trump recalled that he had told former German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he did not understand why she agreed to this multibillion-dollar pipeline with Russia, while the U.S. was defending Germany and Europe.

This time, the German and U.S. leaders, both conservatives, avoided the verbal fireworks that marred recent visits by other foreign leaders to the White House, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Merz, 69, was reportedly briefed on how to handle Trump, especially during a meeting with reporters in the Oval Office.

At one point, Trump called Merz “difficult” but said it was meant as “a compliment” because he showed he stood up for the interests of Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

‘TERROR WAR’

“I’m here, Mr. President, to talk with you later on how we could contribute to that goal. And we all are looking for measures and for instruments to bring this terror war [in Ukraine] to an end,” Merz said.

The two leaders met on the eve of the 81st anniversary of D-Day, when Americans and allies participated in the largest seaborne invasion in history.

The operation began on June 6, 1944, with the Normandy landings and the

liberation of France, followed by the rest of Western Europe, recalled Merz. “And may I remind you that we are having June 6 tomorrow. This is the D-Day anniversary when the Americans once ended a war in Europe,” Merz told Trump.

“That was not a pleasant day for you,” Trump said, laughing. Merz seemingly corrected President Trump speaking about the meaning of the Allied victory over the Nazis in World War Two to modern-day Germans.

The chancellor began to reply that it was indeed “not a pleasant day” before stopping himself to say: “In the long run, Mr. President, this was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship.”

Merz continued saying by Germans know “what they owe to America” for liberating their country from the Nazis, telling Trump that the U.S. is “again in a very strong position” to help end Russia’s war by throwing steadfast support to Ukraine’s defensive efforts.

“We know what we owe you, but this is the reason why I’m saying that America is again, in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war. So let’s talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can,” he said.

NATO COMMITMENTS

Asked if Germany is doing enough to meet its commitments to the NATO military alliance by spending a set percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense needs, Trump replied that he knows Germany is now “spending more money on defense now and quite a bit more money.”

Merz has backed Trump’s demand for NATO members to commit to a target of more than doubling defence spending to 5 percent of economic output in the future, earning praise last weekend from U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Teump called the development “a positive thing” before referring to late American General Douglas MacArthur’s views of Germany, which started two world wars.

“I’m not sure that General MacArthur would have said it’s positive, you know, he wouldn’t like it, but I sort of think it’s good,” Trump said.

“He made a statement: ‘Never let Germany rearm.’ And I said, I always think about that. When he says, ‘Sir, we’re spending more money on defense,’ I say, ‘Oh, is that a good thing or a bad thing?’ I think it’s a good thing,” Trump stressed.

“But you know, at least to a certain point, there’ll be a point where I say: ‘Please don’t arm anymore. If you don’t mind,” the American president added.

Regarding Germany’s war past, Trump joked that the U.S. would be “watching” Germany’s rearmament efforts with “skepticism.”

MANY TROOPS

Tens of thousands of American troops in Germany will also be there to help watch the country’s militarization.

Asked whether the U.S. would continue to base troops in Merz’s country, Trump replied: “The answer is yes,” despite his earlier pledge to withdraw them. “We’ll talk about that. But if they’d like to have them there, yeah,” he said.

“We have a lot of them, about 45,000, it’s a lot of troops. It’s a city,” Trump explained, adding that their presence is good for Germany’s economy because they’re “highly paid” and “spend a lot of money” there.

However, despite the smiles, handshakes, and even golfing in the White House, Thursday’s meeting’s success was not guaranteed.

Merz publicly criticized Trump shortly before the 2024 presidential election and recently pushed back hard after Vice President JD Vance and others criticized Germany for classifying the Alternative für Germany (AFD) as an “extremist party” over its perceived far-right views.

Yet that issue did not come up on Thursday and is now settled, Merz told broadcaster Fox News.

However, he added that Germany was a mature, stable democracy with free speech rights and did not “need any lectures from outside.”

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