Chancellor Friedrich Merz met US President Donald Trump in Washington for their first official discussion. A key topic of the talks was the future of US military bases in Germany. According to the Chancellor, Trump intends to keep the US armed forces in Germany. However, this is seen with the expectation of a fairer burden-sharing within the defense alliance.
Besides security issues, geopolitical tensions were also discussed. Reports say both sides talked about the situation in the Middle East, especially how to deal with Iran. The US administration aims for closer coordination with its European partners on this matter. Merz stressed the importance of the 'transatlantischen Beziehungen' and highlighted that Germany is ready to take on more responsibility within NATO to ensure collective security.
The visit marks an important step in realigning German-American relations under the new leadership of both nations. While economic issues and trade tariffs were also brought up, the focus of the initial statements was clearly on security cooperation and the stability of the Western alliance.
