“I am a great admirer of America,” Merz added, drawing laughter from the crowd, “but right now my admiration is not increasing.”
The comments emphasize the growing rift between Berlin and Washington after weeks of public clashes between Merz and President Donald Trump.
The German leader — who previously headed the Atlantik-Brücke, an influential network that promotes U.S.-German ties — told schoolchildren on April 28 that the American president had been “humiliated” by Iran and lacked a coherent strategy for the war that broke out in late February following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.
Three days later, on May 1, the Pentagon, following through on an earlier threat by Trump, announced it would withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany.
Despite the tensions, Merz wrote on X on Friday that he had “a good phone call” with Trump — the first since the two had publicly clashed — stressing afterward that “the U.S. and Germany are strong partners in a strong NATO.”
Berlin has also turned down U.S. pleas for NATO to become directly involved in the Iran war, insisting “it is not NATO’s war” while leaving open only a limited role for German minesweepers in the Strait of Hormuz once fighting ends.
The Trump administration, however, has its own view of Europe’s political climate.
In its National Security Strategy published in December last year, Washington warned that Europe faced potential “civilizational erasure” driven by migration, weakening national identities and EU policies that allegedly undermine sovereignty.