The Heat: Trump to meet Merkel

The Heat

Anand Naidoo

Anand Naidoo

Trump to meet MerkelPresident Trump to meet Chancellor Merkel
Published March 14, 2017 at 7:49 PM

The meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and U.S. President Donald Trump, was scheduled to take place on Tuesday. But,  poor weather conditions in Washington, pushed it to later in the week.

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(COMBO) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump. / AFP PHOTO / TOBIAS SCHWARZ AND NICHOLAS KAMM

The two leaders will now meet on Friday at The White House.  Major issues like trade, NATO and refugee policy are expected to be on the agenda. And, observers will also be interested to see how Trump and Merkel get along. During his presidential campaign, Trump heavily criticized Merkel for her policy on migrants and refugees entering Germany.

President Trump is quoted as saying: 

“Germany is a behemoth. It’s an economic behemoth. It’s been destroyed by what Merkel has done there, what she has done to Germany. They’re leaving Germany… They’re leaving Germany. They’re moving to other countries. What’s she done, I don’t know. What happened to her?”

The two leaders had a lengthy telephone conversation in late January and earlier this week Merkel sounded a positive note about their upcoming face-to-face meeting, saying:

“I believe that direct conversation is always much better than talking about each other.”

 

To preview the upcoming visit:

  •  Ansgar Graw, senior political correspondent in Washington for the German newspaper, Die Welt.
  • Matteo Garavoglia, non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe. 
  • Petra Dolata, associate professor with the history department at the University of Calgary.
  • Nathan King, CGTN correspondent.

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