WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to work on reducing the $65 billion U.S. trade deficit with Germany and increasing Germany’s contribution to NATO, the leaders said Friday after a two-hour meeting at the White House.
“We are going to make it reciprocal,” Trump said at a joint press conference. “We are going to make it a much more fair situation, and in the end, everyone is going to be very happy.”
Unlike French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit earlier this week, Merkel’s meeting at the White House was brief. She and Trump met over lunch to talk about new U.S. tariffs set to go into effect Tuesday to reduce what Trump said is a $151 billion – which is the U.S. trade deficit with the European Union.
Merkel said Germany has not met its required 2 percent of GDP for NATO’s budget, but is getting closer.
Although Germany and the United States maintain a close friendship, the two leaders are far from close confidants. Merkel and Trump have a complicated history of disagreeing on key issues like climate change, border patrol and their countries’ financial responsibilities to world organizations like NATO.
During last year’s visit to the White House, Merkel and Trump appeared stiff and uncomfortable with each other. The two have not spoken in the last five months, an unusually long silence between the allies.
But Friday, Merkel and Trump attempted to show a more cordial relationship.
“Look forward to meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany today,” Trump tweeted Friday morning before the meeting. “So much to discuss, so little time! It will be good for both of our countries!”
At the press conference, Merkel echoed Macron’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, acknowledging Trump’s concerns that the Iran nuclear deal does not go far enough in curbing Iran’s nuclear weapons.
“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the first step that has contributed to lowering down their activities,” Merkel said. “But we also think from a German perspective that this is not sufficient in order to see to it that Iran’s ambitions are curbed, and they’re contained.”
She said it is important that the United States and Germany remain a united front in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East.
“We depend urgently on each other,” she said.
Trump did not say whether he plans to recertify the deal by the May 12 deadline but said that Iran will “not be doing nuclear weapons.”
“You can bank on it,” he said.
Trump answered questions about meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un; peace talks between the North and South Korea took place this week. Trump said that his meeting with the North Korean leader is in the final planning stages.
“It should be quite something,” he said. “Let’s see what happens. We will not repeat the mistake of past administrations.”