Agency Report –
The subsequent press conference in the Oval Office is eagerly awaited. Previous visits by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa were accompanied by dramatic scenes.
The meeting is expected to focus on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, NATO’s response to growing external threats, and the tariff dispute between the United States and the European Union.
Merz has already made it clear that he is not travelling to Washington as a “supplicant” and will confidently represent European positions there.
The German chancellor is only going to be in the US capital for around 17 hours. The programme at the White House is scheduled to start late Thursday morning.
Merz and Trump met briefly in New York many years ago. However, since the chancellor took office four weeks ago, they have already spoken on the phone four times.
One of those calls was a one-to-one conversation, the other three involved a larger group of other European leaders discussing the war in Ukraine.
