Merkel meets Trump in clash of style and
substance
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[March 13, 2017]
By Noah Barkin
BERLIN (Reuters) - She is controlled and
cautious, a physicist from East Germany who takes her time making
decisions and has never relished the attention that comes from being
Europe's most powerful leader.
He is a wealthy real estate magnate from New York who shoots from the
hip and enjoys the spotlight.
It is hard to imagine two leaders more different, in style or substance,
than Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Donald Trump, the new
president of the United States.
For months, they have been engaged in an uneasy long-distance skirmish
over policy and values.
On Tuesday, they meet for the first time - a high-stakes encounter that
will be watched by governments around the world for clues about the
future of the transatlantic alliance, a partnership that has helped
shape the global order since World War Two but which Trump is
threatening to upend.
"Do I think they are going to become good friends? Probably not. They
are very different personalities," said Charles Kupchan, who advised
Trump's predecessor Barack Obama on European policy as a member of the
National Security Council.
"But I do think they have a strong interest, both politically and
strategically, in learning how to work together. It is arguably the most
important meeting with a foreign leader of Trump's presidency."
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German officials say the detail-oriented Merkel, 62, has been preparing
assiduously for her trip to Washington.
She has watched Trump's speeches and poured over his interviews,
including a lengthy Q&A with Playboy magazine from 1990 in which he
floats many of the controversial ideas he is now trying to implement as
president, they say.
Members of her entourage have also analyzed Trump's encounters with
other leaders - including Britain's Theresa May, Japan's Shinzo Abe and
Canada's Justin Trudeau - and have had exchanges with some of their
counterparts on how to handle the unpredictable former reality-TV star,
the officials added.
"We have to be prepared for the fact that he does not like to listen for
long, that he prefers clear positions and does not want to delve into
details," said one senior German official.
'CATASTROPHIC MISTAKE'
On both economic and foreign policy, the divide between the two leaders
appears vast.
Trump, 70, has called Merkel's decision to allow hundreds of thousands
of refugees into Germany a "catastrophic mistake."
He has threatened to impose tariffs on German carmakers that import into
the U.S. market. And he has criticized Berlin for not spending more on
defense, a longstanding U.S. complaint that Merkel has promised to
address.
Another source of tension is Germany's 50 billion euro trade surplus
with the United States.
Trump adviser Peter Navarro has accused Germany of gaining unfair trade
advantages through a weak euro. Merkel and her ministers have pointed
out that the European Central Bank - and not Berlin - controls the fate
of Europe's single currency.
Russia will also be on the agenda. White House officials have said Trump
will seek advice from Merkel on how to deal with Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
For her part, Merkel has been critical of Trump's travel ban targeting
the citizens of several mainly Muslim countries. In a phone call in
January, she explained to Trump that the Geneva Convention obliges
signatories, including the United States, to take in war refugees on
humanitarian grounds.
Merkel is also concerned that Trump, who has repeatedly praised
Britain's decision to leave the European Union, might continue to
undermine the bloc with his rhetoric at a time of deep crisis triggered
by the rise of anti-EU populist parties.
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![](../images/031317pics/news_w41.jpg)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the EU summit in
Brussels, Belgium, March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File photo
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"Europe is in a very fragile, precarious state and Germany is trying
to ensure that the European integration project holds together. I
suspect the chancellor will want to make this clear to the
president," said Anthony Gardner, who served as U.S. ambassador to
the European Union until January.
"This is an opportunity to sketch out areas of common interest, to
define a positive agenda," he added. "But one meeting won't change
the atmosphere on its own."
POTENTIAL FOR SURPRISES
Trump is the third U.S. president that Merkel, Europe's
longest-serving leader, has worked with.
She established a good rapport with George W. Bush, who was keen to
repair ties with Germany after his clash with Merkel's predecessor
Gerhard Schroeder over the Iraq war.
And although relations with Obama got off to an awkward start when
Merkel rebuffed his request to speak at the Brandenburg Gate during
the 2008 presidential campaign, the two grew close over time,
cooperating on sanctions against Russia and launching negotiations
on a transatlantic free-trade deal.
"The parting is hard for me," Merkel acknowledged when Obama visited
Berlin in November, a week after Trump's victory.
The German leader will be walking a fine line in Washington. With an
election looming at home in September, she must avoid offering her
political opponents ammunition by cozying up to Trump. Neither can
she afford an open confrontation that might damage German interests.
One of the biggest concerns in the chancellor's camp before the
visit is the potential for surprises.
Japan's Abe had an awkward 19-second handshake with Trump, while May
was criticized in some sections of the British media for holding
hands with Trump during a stroll at the White House, apparently
after he reached out to steady himself.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Trump last month,
he and his team spent the day before running through endless
scenarios, lines of questioning and role-plays to ensure they were
prepared for any scenario.
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But in the end, they were still taken aback when Trump spoke off the
cuff at their news conference on the sensitive issues of settlements
and a future Palestinian state.
Merkel has admitted to being so uncomfortable with surprises as a
child that she drew up her Christmas wish-list months in advance to
avoid being caught off-guard by an unexpected gift.
With Trump, she might have to expect the unexpected.
(Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Gernot Heller in Berlin,
Steve Holland in Washington, Luke Baker is Jerusalem, Elizabeth
Piper in London and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Pravin
Char)
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