German ex-leader Merkel says she felt sorrow at Trump’s comeback and recalls awkward non-handshake
BERLIN (AP) — Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she felt “sorrow” at Donald Trump’s return to power and recalls that every meeting with him was “a competition: you or me.”In an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel published Friday, Merkel said that Trump “is a challenge for the world, particularly for multilateral-ism.”
“What awaits us now is really not easy,” she said, because “the strongest economy in the world stands behind this president” with the dollar as a dominant currency.
Merkel worked with four American presidents while she was German chancellor. She was in power throughout Trump’s first term — easily the most tense period for German-U.S. relations of her 16 years in office, which ended in late 2021.
She recalled as “a typical scene” a famously awkward moment in the Oval Office when she first visited Trump at the White House in March 2017. Photographers shouted “handshake!” and Merkel quietly asked Trump: “Do you want to have a handshake?” There was no response from Trump, who looked ahead with his hands clasped.
