Germany’s Merz says Trump relationship good despite Iran criticism
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that his relationship with President Donald Trump “remains good” after Trump lashed out at him for criticizing the conflict with Iran.
“From my perspective, my personal relationship with the U.S. President remains good,” Merz told reporters, according to Reuters . “I simply had doubts from the start about what was begun with the war in Iran. That is why I have made that clear.”
Trump scolded Merz in a Tuesday post on Truth Social, claiming that the German leader thought it was “OK” for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” he wrote.
Merz has raised questions since the start of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran about the rationale behind waging the war and whether a solid exit strategy exists.
Speaking to German students on Monday, he said the U.S. was being “ humiliated by the Iranian leadership” by having an American delegation travel to Islamabad, Pakistan, for negotiations only to leave without a result.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner planned to visit Islamabad for a second round of indirect talks this past weekend, but Trump canceled the trip that same day. He told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that U.S. representatives would no longer make “18-hour flights every time we want to see a piece of paper.”
The German chancellor on Wednesday also renewed concerns about the economic toll of the war amid dual U.S. and Iranian blockades in the Strait of Hormuz , which have effectively halted traffic through the critical waterway and caused a surge in global oil prices. He said Germany and the rest of Europe were “suffering” the consequences.
“This has a direct impact on our energy supply and a huge impact on our economic performance,” Merz said, according to Reuters.
Germany is part of a coalition of more than 50 countries, led by France and the United Kingdom, working on an international response to secure safe passage for vessels through the strait once fighting stops.
Merz said on Monday that his country has offered to send minesweepers to help clear the strait of Iranian sea mines — an effort the U.S. military is already actively engaged in.
Trump has repeatedly scolded European allies over their reluctance to deploy military assets to help reopen the channel, naming Germany as one of the nations he was doing a favor by pursuing the mine-clearing operation.
“Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month.
The president warned the Iranian regime to “get smart soon” on Wednesday after claiming a day earlier that an Iranian official told him the country was in a “ State of Collapse ” and wanted the strait reopened. He did not elaborate on who shared that message.
Tehran’s latest proposal to end hostilities included an offer to loosen its grip on the channel in exchange for the U.S. ending its naval blockade, two regional officials told The Associated Press .
But the regime also wants to delay discussions on its nuclear program, which the Trump administration appears unwilling to agree to.
“At this moment, there will never be a deal unless they agree that there will be no nuclear weapons,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
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