Posted originally on CTH on May 31, 2025 | Sundance 

Next week on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to travel to Washington DC and meet with President Donald Trump in the White House.  Considering the importance of Germany to the EU economy and subsequent trade relationship with the U.S, this meeting with Merz will likely be the most important discussion toward a possible U.S-E.U. trade agreement.

Germany is the largest economy within the EU and the core industrial base of the European Union.  The number one issue for the German people is their economic status: everything else circles around this priority.

Having spent time in Hamburg, Bremen, Dresden and Frankfurt, it is very clear to me the German people are very focused on work and their vocations. Germans overall, take their economic standing very personally and seriously.

Inasmuch as Merz may have to represent the interests of the larger EU in his approach, he will undoubtedly be focused on what is in Germany’s best interest, with all else second.

For President Trump this specific German interest creates a unique facet of leverage within the larger EU trade discussion.  Because the German economy is so vital, whatever terms Germany decides are the core terms the EU will manifest in their trade and tariff negotiations.

I predict we will hear a talking point from Merz, in generally German snark, something akin to a proposal for a zero-tariff base on the import and export of heavy industrial goods (machinery) for both Germany and the USA.  I say in general German snark because passive-aggressive Chancellor Merz knows the U.S. is currently not in a position to sell Germany heavy industrial goods, and that’s entirely what President Trump is trying to recreate with the trade/tariff policy.

WASHINGTON DC – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Washington next week to meet United States President Donald Trump for the first time since taking office earlier this month.

The leaders will meet in the White House on Thursday and are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Middle East and trade policy, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in an emailed statement.

Merz will travel to the U.S. capital a day ahead of the meeting, according to broadcaster n-tv. The meeting will be followed by a lunch and a press conference, according to the report. (read more)

Recently Merz has also walked further forward in his support for Ukraine, including his willingness to provide missiles and approve their use for strikes into the Russian mainland.  On this issue Merz is in a tenuous place domestically.  The German people care more about their economic status than they do supporting Ukraine as a proxy war against the Russian Federation.

In addition to the trade and Ukraine issues, Chancellor Merz is also in conflict with the Trump administration as it pertains to cultural and political expressions of free speech in Germany.

The oppressive German system of politics has been ramping up a more oppressive footing toward the nationalistic voices inside the country.  The opposition (AfD) who does not support the EU status vociferously enough, is now a target of the German political machine.

Both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have publicly called out the German government for oppressive positions against their own citizens.  Merz has pushed back against Rubio and Vance by telling them to stay out of German politics.

This will be an interesting meeting to watch closely next week.