Few ties that bind as Merkel and Trump prepare to meet
“To say their relationship has been rocky may be the euphemism of the year.”
Michael Bröning of the Berlin think tank Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Their personalities, backgrounds make for a sharp contrast
Donald Trump and Angela Merkel couldn’t be more different in political experience, worldviews and temperament.
They’ll find out if they can find any common ground on Friday, when the new U.S. president hosts the long-serving German leader at the White House. They had planned to get together Tuesday, but the meeting was postponed because of an expected snowstorm in Washington, D.C.
In personality, Merkel’s calm, detailed-oriented leadership for 11 years is in sharp contrast to political neophyte Trump’s spontaneity and provocative comments. On policy, they diverge over immigration, defense spending, the European Union and global trade.
“To say that their relationship has been rocky from the start may be the euphemism of the year,” says Michael Bröning, director of the foreign policy unit at Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a Berlin think tank affiliated with Germany’s Social Democratic Party, a center-left opposition group that is part of Merkel’s ruling coalition. “They criticized each other before the presidential transition, during it, after it, and they keep on doing it. ... Merkel and Trump really are the polar opposite of each other on so many levels.”
Merkel’s visit will be Trump’s sixth with a foreign leader since his inauguration.
Trump has accused the leader of Europe’s most powerful country of “ruining Germany” because of lenient asylum policies that allowed in more than 1 million migrants since 2015. For her part, Merkel has scolded Trump for ordering a temporary ban on immigrants from seven — and subsequently six — majority-Muslim countries, as well as all refugees.
Part of the reason for the trip is so Merkel and Trump can compare notes ahead of the Germanhosted Group of 20 economic summit in Hamburg in July.
Their meeting takes place amid deep unease in Germany and across Europe over how Trump will handle a trans-Atlantic relationship that has been a bastion of stability for decades.
Trump advocates a protectionist stance on trade, has trashed the European Union — of which Germany is a strong advocate — and has threatened to withdraw support for NATO unless more members of the 28-nation military alliance boost spending levels to 2% of their gross domestic product.
Germany, which spends only 1.2% of GDP on defense despite its wealth, has no plan to meet the 2% goal, because a stronger military is not a priority for Germans still haunted by the horrors of World War II.
Merkel does not have to make nice to Trump when only 7% of Germans approve of him, according to a poll by Allensbach, a research institute.
Even so, “it’s important that Merkel and Trump get to know each other personally,” says Peter Beyer, a German politician from Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union party. “I am pretty sure there won’t be a screaming match.
“Merkel is pragmatic and understands her role quite well,” Beyer says. “She’s not emotional.”
The White House says it expects a “robust discussion” between the two leaders on security, Russia, the European Union, trade and Trump’s push for NATO members to spend more on defense.