San Francisco Frontiers - Germany's Merz survives Trump test, despite Ukraine differences

A month into his job, Merz unleashed a charm offensive on the 78-year-old Trump, presenting him with a framed copy of the birth certificate of his grandfather Frederick, who was born in Germany in 1869.

Merz also hailed Trump as being the "key person in the world" when it came to ending the Ukraine war, saying the US leader could "really do that now by putting pressure on Russia."

It was a backhanded way of urging Trump to overcome his aversion to putting sanctions on Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as the more than three-year-old war grinds on.

The polite meeting showed that the conservative German leader had done his homework as he sought to avoid ambushes like those that Trump unleashed on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa's president.

But they did not see eye to eye on everything.

- 'Fighting in a park' -

Trump -- who spoke to Russian leader Vladimir Putin a day earlier -- said it might be better to let the two sides fight it out, comparing the war that has left thousands dead and swathes of Ukraine in ruins to a children's brawl.

"Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart," Trump told reporters.

"Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while."

Trump said however that he had urged Putin not to retaliate after Ukraine launched daring drone attacks on its airbases, destroying several nuclear capable bombers.

"I said 'don't do it,'" Trump told reporters, adding that Putin had told him he had no choice but to respond and it was "not going to be pretty."

Trump did make a series of off-color references to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II -- still a deeply sensitive subject in modern-day Germany.

Praising Merz for Germany raising its defense spending in line with his demands for NATO members to cough up, Trump said he was not sure World War II US general Douglas MacArthur would have agreed.

Then, referring to the upcoming 80th anniversary of the allied D-Day landings that led to the end of the war, Trump said: "That was not a pleasant day for you?"

Merz, 69, calmly replied: "This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship. We know what we owe you."

- Tariffs deal possible -

Merz avoided other possible pitfalls as Trump spent much of his time on a lengthy discourse against his billionaire former advisor Elon Musk.

Topics like US tariffs on the EU and the prospect of a trade deal barely came up, with Trump saying he believed a deal was possible.

On Trump's threat to hammer the European Union with sharply higher tariffs, Merz, leader of the bloc's biggest economy, had earlier argued that it must be self-confident in its negotiations with Washington.

Nor did Trump confront Merz over free speech issues in Germany as US media had reported he might -- a bugbear the administration has repeatedly brought up with European leaders despite its own record.

Merz told reporters in Washington ahead of the meeting that if Trump brought up German domestic politics "I will state my opinion very clearly if necessary."

Trump and some in his administration have given vocal support to the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which came second in February elections.

US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Trump adviser Elon Musk have all weighed in in support of the AfD, which in Germany is shunned by all other political parties.

Despite the tensions, Merz had said earlier that he was "looking forward" to his first face-to-face meeting with Trump.

The German chancellor is believed to have studied videos of previous Oval Office ambushes and learned how to stay calm and let Trump talk.

P.Thomas--SFF