German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the state of bilateral relations with the United States on Sunday, in the wake of a public spat between him and President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.
In an interview with German broadcaster ARD, Merz downplayed tensions between the two countries.
He said Trump’s announcement to remove 5,000 US troops from their bases in Germany was not surprising and would not be seen as retaliation, adding that it had “no connection” to the recent disagreements.
What did Merz say about the transatlantic relationship?
“I am not giving up working on transatlantic relations,” Merz told the public broadcaster. “Nor am I giving up on working with Donald Trump.”
Trump took aim at Merz, who scolded him for saying Tehran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table.
Trump accused Merz of “thinking it’s OK for Iran to have nuclear weapons” and commented that Germany “is doing very poorly, both economically and otherwise.”
Troop cutbacks were announced in Germany following Trump’s comments about the pandemic. The same day, he announced an increase in tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union, a move that would hit Germany’s economy the hardest.
What does Marz think about the Iran war?
Mertz is the latest European leader to be admonished by Trump in response to disagreements over the Iran war. The US President has also had a dispute with Spain and Britain on this matter.
But the German chancellor insisted he still shares Trump’s goal of ensuring Iran never gets nuclear weapons, signaling that Germany is still aligned with US interests on that front.
“We have a different view of this war. It’s not a secret,” Merz told ARD. “I’m not the only one who feels that way,” he said.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m convinced that the Americans are important partners for us, our most important partners in the North Atlantic alliance,” Merz said.
Merz says deliveries of US Tomahawks to Germany unlikely
Merz also confirmed to the ARD that the planned deployment of American long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany would be cancelled.
“As I see it at the moment, objectively speaking, there is hardly any possibility of the US supplying such weapons systems,” Merz said. “The Americans themselves don’t have enough right now.”
Former US President Joe Biden promised Tomahawk deliveries, among several measures taken at the time to counter the Russian threat.
Merz said that the wars in Iran and Ukraine were affecting US supplies, but he indicated that this was temporary and could change in the future.
Edited by: Rana Taha