30 May, 2017
Merkel also emphasized the continued need for friendly relations with the US and others, and spokesman Steffen Seibert said Monday that the chancellor is "a convinced trans-Atlanticist".
"I experienced that in the last a few days, and therefore I can only say that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands, of course in friendship with the United States and in friendship with Great Britain and as good neighbors wherever it is possible, also with Russian Federation and also with all the other countries".
These comments by Merkel shocked American foreign policy experts.
"[French President Emmanuel] Macron and other European leaders seemed to have the same takeaway" from the encounter with Trump and his delegation at NATO's headquarters and the G-7, he said.
The sharp words from Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel came after Trump concluded his first official tour overseas which took him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Brussels and then Italy for a G7 summit.
But Seibert also took the opportunity to stress that Merkel remained "a deeply convinced trans-Atlanticist".
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she wanted to maintain a strong partnership with the European Union over security and trade after German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested the continent could no longer completely rely on Britain. In a tweet, she said that Obama had also damaged US alliances by "calling our reliability into question", but went on to say that "Trump has damaged them more".
"With change comes insecurity, skepticism. and, not infrequently, the glorification of the supposedly good old days", Merkel said.
Germany stepped up its criticism of Donald Trump, the U.S. president, a day after Angela Merkel declared that the United States and the UK were no longer "reliable partners". "Particularly in view of the complexity of global contexts, a wish for simple answers spreads".
Merkel's comments came at a campaign event in Munich after returning from the G7 summit with other world leaders in Taormina, Sicily.
Days earlier, in Saudi Arabia, Trump had presided over the signing of the single largest USA arms deal in American history, worth $110 billion over the next decade and including ships, tanks and anti-missile systems.
He added, however, that he hopes "we can win back the United States one day, because there are also large parts of American society that we must not forget".
She and others were trying to convince Trump of the benefits of the Paris climate agreement to Trump, but he walked away from the summit without making any firm commitments on the deal.
"Here is a situation where it's six, seven if you include the European Union, against one", she said.
Mr Trump has said he will make a decision on the Paris agreement this week.
Trump also lectured his counterparts Thursday on their failure to meet North Atlantic Treaty Organisation spending guidelines.
Elmar Thevessen, the deputy editor-in-chief at German public broadcaster ZDF, said that "Merkel sent a very important signal" from Europe. "She's someone who is very sober about the guys with the big agendas and big egos, be it (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, be it (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, be it Trump".
