03 June, 2017
The reaction of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel suggests the Trump the world saw and heard in public on this tour was the Trump that European leaders met in private.
"We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation & military", Trump wrote on Twitter.
The signing ceremony for the MoUs took place at the Chancellery, the office of the German Chancellor, between senior Indian and German ministers and envoys before Modi and Merkel addressed the media. "But we need to know that we have to fight for our own future and destiny as Europeans", Merkel said.
It continues a long-running concern by the president about whether foreign countries are exploiting USA economic strength through unfair trade relationships. She's also looking to French President Emmanuel Macron as an ally in strengthening the euro area.
Spicer went on to say that the quote from Merkel was taken out of context. She said "it's necessary to be open to achieve fair trade conditions". But she lost the election earlier this month. "Merkel needs to put some distance between herself and Trump, who is exceptionally unpopular in Germany", said Marcel Dirsus, a political scientist at the University of Kiel in northern Germany.
"I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel he would describe as fairly unbelievable", Spicer told reporters gathered for the first daily press briefing since Trump returned from his first trip overseas as president.
The Make in India Mittelstand (MIIM) launched to encourage German small and medium industry (SME) to India has evoked major interest in Germany, giving further boost to bilateral business ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.
It's also not the first time a German chancellor has clashed with a U.S. president.
But she also finessed her message slightly on Monday, stressing that she was a "convinced trans-Atlanticist".
Derek Chollet, a former assistant secretary of defense for worldwide security affairs in the Obama administration, said a danger is that Europe won't want to follow Trump if he needs them.
G7 leaders at Friday's meeting: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Donald Trump, and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
On Sunday, following the meetings, Merkel announced that Europe "really must take our fate into our own hands", showing new distance from its long-standing alliance with the United States. Modi also made a call for European Union (EU) unity and said India would play a positive role in enhancing that through Germany. The idea that the United States might walk away from the deal has frustrated Europeans after the years it took to reach the agreement. "It's very easy for us". Li's visit presents "an opportunity for China to demonstrate its leadership on global issues from free trade to climate change at a time when the U.S.is turning inward", Bloomberg News reported.
Trump has also repeatedly criticised Germany its persistent trade surplus with the US.
"I will continue to work to ensure that the 27 member states work together effectively and, above all, in a forward-looking way", she said at the time, adding that Trump's positions on the defense organization had "been known for a while".
