Donald Trump appears to have a new favorite European leader. In the Oval Office in Washington this week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz sat beside the unpredictable US president and found himself being praised in the highest terms.

Merz is a "very successful man" and an excellent leader, the president gushed. Other world leaders have had very different experiences at meetings in the White House in recent months.

This week's visit played out quite similarly to Merz's first visit to the US in summer 2025. Trump talked a lot, ranted and raved, while Merz listened and added a few polite comments here and there. The chancellor stuck to his tactic this time around, too, and tried to address the more controversial issues behind closed doors.

Trump is not asking for German boots on the ground

The German chancellor's visit to the US had been planned for some time — and then took on much greater significance after the attacks by the US and Israel on Iran last weekend. Merz announced in Berlin that Germany stood behind its partners Israel and the US, and condemned Iran's counterattacks on targets in the region.

But under international law, Germany finds itself in a dilemma. The German government's reasoning appears to be: These attacks violate international law, but we are not opposed to them. This position did not upset the US president, who seems to accept the fact that Germany does not want to participate directly in the war. 

"We're not asking them to put boots on the ground," Trump said.

Trump threatens Spain, Merz defends EU partner after meeting

But Merz had also come to Washington to demonstrate the unity of the European Union on many issues, especially tariff policy and the war in Ukraine. He was only partially successful. In the presence of the chancellor, Trump berated Spain for prohibiting the US from using its bases for airstrikes on Iran. He went so far as to say that he would stop trading with the EU member.

Merz remained silent on this during the public part of the White House meeting and even admonished Spain by calling on Madrid to spend 3% or more of its gross domestic product on defense. Only after the meeting in the Oval Office did the chancellor insist in interviews with German media that he had defended Spain against Trump behind closed doors: "I told him very clearly: You cannot conclude an isolated agreement with Germany here, or an agreement with the whole of Europe, but not with Spain."

Visiting Trump 'like jumping through a burning hoop'

DW chief political correspondent Michaela Küfner was present during the chancellor's visit.

"A visit to Donald Trump's Oval Office is always like jumping through a burning political hoop," she said. "Even Merz didn't know beforehand where he would land on the other side. The chancellor didn't seem prepared for the harsh words Trump had for Spain and the UK."

Much to Trump's annoyance, London had also initially hesitated to allow the US to use British bases, though the British government ultimately agreed.

But Merz had originally planned to come to Washington to talk about the US controversial tariff policy and the war in Ukraine. Most recently, the US Supreme Court had struck down a large part of the US president's harsh tariffs regime. Now Trump wants to use a different legal mechanism to impose blanket tariffs of 15% across the world, which is roughly in line with a 2025 agreement with the EU.

Chancellor raises issue of EU-US deficit in services

But following the recent turmoil caused by the ruling and Trump's previous threats of heavy tariffs, the EU has not yet finalized that agreement, something Merz believes is an opportunity for a renegotiation. He pointed out to Trump that there is a large deficit for Europe in the balance of services with the US.

Trump only ever thinks about the exchange of goods, the chancellor argued. 

"So far, we haven't thought of imposing special tariffs on these services provided by America in Europe," warned the chancellor.

That sounded almost like a small threat, if one that Merz, once again, only brought up after the White House meeting, in front of German cameras.

The chancellor also made a small gesture to emphasize how important trade issues are to him: He presented Trump with a replica of a trade agreement between Prussia and the US from 1785, the first trade agreement between the US and a third country. The gift represented a piece of rule-based order, something that Trump has been accused of undermining. It is unclear whether Trump was impressed by the gesture. 

There was also little enlightenment on the subject of Russia's war against Ukraine, which has been going on for more than four years. Before his departure for the US, Merz had stressed that only if Washington put pressure on Russia again would President Vladimir Putin be prepared to make concessions. The chancellor added that there should be no negotiated solution over the heads of the Europeans. But that, many would say, is exactly what has been happening for some time now.

This article was originally written in German.

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