Merkel eyes "reset" with Trump
Donald Trump and Angela Merkel have held talks over the past few days
Before a phone conversation this week to discuss the war in Syria and Russian nuclear arms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump had not spoken to each other in over five months.
That gap, described by diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic as shockingly long, underscores the challenge Merkel faces if she succeeds in forming a coalition government later this month and, as German officials suggest, tries to reset the relationship with Trump.
A strong believer in close transatlantic ties, Merkel was the go-to leader in Europe for both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush when Washington and Berlin were navigating the global financial crisis, Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and Iran’s nuclear programme.
But her relationship with Trump got off to a frosty start and has never recovered.
At a time of rising transatlantic tensions over trade, the Iran nuclear deal and NATO defence spending, some German officials and analysts worry the personal divide between the brash, impulsive president and cautious, analytical chancellor could lead to a further deterioration in bilateral ties.
Jan Techau, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank in Berlin, described the five month gap in contact between the leaders before Thursday’s phone conversation as a“very very bad sign”. He saw no connection with the conservative chancellor’s struggle to form a new government more than five months after federal elections.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the political limbo in Germany. It is a sign of a relationship where there is no trust,” Techau said.“If you don’t have a personal relationship between the leaders to fall back on, it can be very difficult to stop the downward spiral.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub