WSJ: Friedrich Merz, Our Man in Berlin
During Donald Trump’s first term, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised the world and perhaps himself by building a solid relationship with the mercurial American president. U.S.-German relations, on the other hand, went through one crisis after another. The second time around, it’s the Germans who seem to be managing the relationship smoothly, while the Japanese have been disappointed.
The secret to Berlin’s success so far appears to lie with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his disciplined approach to the trans-Atlantic relationship. When the Bundestag voted Mr. Merz’s government into power on May 6, U.S.-German relations were not in the happiest state. In February, Vice President JD Vance met with Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the German decision to classify the AfD as an extremist organization “tyranny in disguise.”
Mr. Merz deftly walked a line, firmly rejecting criticisms of German democracy while aligning Berlin with key Trump administration priorities. Committing to spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense, taking a tougher stance on immigration, and focusing attention on the dangers of Chinese mercantilism to the German economy all went down smoothly in Washington.
Mr. Merz, a successful businessman, may have an easier time understanding the American president than do career politicians with less feel for the private sector. Knowing that a working relationship with Mr. Trump was a key to his success overall, the new German chancellor has tended the bilateral relationship assiduously. At his first Oval Office meeting, Mr. Merz presented the president with a gold-framed copy of Mr. Trump’s grandfather’s German birth certificate. Mr. Merz has refused to criticize Mr. Trump in public and has nothing but nice things to say about their telephone conversations.