Despite warmth, Merkel and Trump fail to resolve differences on trade, Nato
PANEL FINDS NO TRUMPRUSSIA COLLUSION
: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump aired differences over trade and Nato on Friday at a White House meeting where they tried to put on a show of warmth and friendship despite tensions between the two allies.
With Trump poised to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium soon that will impact European exports, Merkel said the decision is now in Trump’s hands on whether to grant exemptions to European Union nations.
“We had an exchange of views. The decision lies with the president,” Merkel told a joint press conference after Trump complained about the US-European trade imbalance, particularly in regards to automobiles.
Merkel’s quick trip came the same week as a three-day state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who, like Merkel, pressed Trump on trade and urged him to keep the United States in a multi-national nuclear deal with Iran. Neither leader appeared to make significant progress convincing Trump on either issue.
Merkel said she could see negotiating a bilateral trade deal between the EU and the US, saying the World Trade Organization has been unable to deliver multilateral agreements. Trump said he wanted “reciprocal” trade ties with Germany and other European nations and wanted Germany and other NATO allies to pay more for their common defence, an issue he has raised repeatedly.
: Russia ran an information warfare campaign to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but there is no evidence that President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow, Republicans on a congressional panel said in a report released on Friday.
The findings of majority Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee were immediately challenged by minority Democrats following a year of rancorous disputes on a panel whose role is to oversee intelligence agencies in a spirit of bipartisanship. Republicans, over Democratic objections, voted in March to end the committee’s investigation of election meddling. The 253-page report was seized on by Trump, a Republican, who posted its conclusions on Twitter and repeated his view that the Russian investigation is “A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!” despite probes by a US special counsel and other congressional committees that are still open. Trump has repeatedly denied receiving help from Moscow. REUTERS
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