“Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,” Merz said at a business conference in Berlin.
In the end, the 45-minute-long meeting belonged to the “peaceful” category. Trump told Merz, “I’m friends with you”, and they appeared to bond over a shared dislike of Angela Merkel, the former chancellor and Merz’s political rival.
FT at it again. Merz is right that Germany is tied to the US at the moment, but this frames it as if Merz wants further dependence on the US. Merz is doing damage control, firefighting if you will. Habeck or Klingbeil would have done nothing else, but with less success, because their ideologies and manners might not be as pleasing to Trump. In a way, this is a very fragile and fake game, but with hard consequences.