World: Merkel meets with Trump at the White House

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has committed to support Nato with 2 percent of GPD after a meeting with US President Donald Trump, who says the two “have something in common” regarding wiretaps.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: AFP

Mrs Merkel is visiting the White House for a key summit with Mr Trump, in their first face-to-face meeting.

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Nato, trade and Ukraine were high on the agenda, but the focus was also on how two leaders with hugely contrasting ideas and leadership styles would interact.

Mr Trump he expected the United States to do “fantastically well” in trade with Germany, he said at a joint news conference, while also pushing for Nato-aligned nations to help pay for the organisation’s peacekeeping efforts.

“I reiterated to Chancellor Merkel my strong support for Nato as well as the need for our Nato allies to pay their fair share for the cost of defense,” he said.

 

Mr Trump also said he did not believe in isolationism but that trade policy should be fairer.

Mr Merkel said she hoped the United States and the European Union could resume discussions on a trade agreement and that she had told Mr Trump Germany needed to meet NATO spending goals.

“We held a conversation where we were trying to address also those areas where we disagree, but we tried to bring people together … tried to find a compromise that is good for both sides,” she said.

The visit had been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed due to a snowstorm.

‘Something in common’ on wiretapping – Trump

Mr Trump also said he “very seldom” regrets anything he tweets, brushing off questions about his claims without evidence that his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, wiretapped him during last year’s presidential campaign.

Mr Trump said of Mrs Merkel that “at least we have something in common,” apparently referring to reports during Mr Obama’s presidency that the US bugged her phone.

Congressional leaders from both political parties have said they did not believe Trump was wiretapped.

Mr Trump also deflected criticism about Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who on Thursday repeated a charge that a British intelligence agency had helped Mr Obama wiretap Mr Trump.

Mr Trump said Mr Spicer was merely quoting a Fox News analyst when he made the comments.

Past criticisms swept aside as Merkel faces election pressure

In January, Mr Trump said the German chancellor had made “a catastrophic mistake” by allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants into Germany.

And when Time magazine chose her as its person of the year in 2015 instead of him, Mr Trump said she was “ruining Germany”. However, he had also said in the past she was a leader he greatly respected.

For her part, Mrs Merkel has criticised Mr Trump’s controversial travel ban that targets the citizens of several mainly Muslim countries.

In her first telephone conversation with Mr Trump after he took office, she explained that the Geneva Convention obliges signatories, including the US, to take in refugees of war on humanitarian grounds.

But she needs to walk a diplomatic tightrope, building a relationship with Mr Trump without appearing to sacrifice her own values or disappoint her supporters as she prepares for an election at home seeking a fourth term as chancellor.

-RNZ

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