Merkel shoots against Trump: “We talked on different levels”

In her memoirs “Freedom,” Angela Merkel provides deep insights into Donald Trump’s way of thinking and her relationship with the former and future US president. Accordingly, Trump looked at political issues from the perspective of a property developer – every gain for someone else meant a loss for him. “He assessed everything from the perspective of the real estate entrepreneur that he had been before politics. Each property could only be awarded once. If he didn’t get it, someone else got it. That’s how he looked at the world,” writes Merkel.

Trump repeatedly criticized and provoked her during the election campaign. According to her own statements, Merkel nevertheless tried to ensure a good relationship between the two: “(…) my duty was to do everything for an adequate relationship between our two countries, without reacting to all the provocations.” However, when we met Donald Trump for the first time, it became clear how difficult this would be.

“We talked on two different levels,” writes Merkel about her first meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Back in 2017, Trump spoke on an emotional level and Merkel on a factual level. “If he did pay attention to my arguments, it was usually only to construct new accusations from them,” said the ex-Chancellor. According to Merkel, a solution to the problems that she raised during her visit to the White House did not appear to be Trump’s goal. “I concluded from my conversations that there would be no joint work for a networked world with Trump.”

Merkel also reports that Trump was impressed by Vladimir Putin at the meeting. “He was obviously very fascinated by the Russian president,” writes Merkel. “In the years that followed, I had the impression that politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits cast a spell on him.”

Because of Trump’s difficult character, Merkel once even asked Pope Francis for help in dealing with the US president. After taking office in 2017, Trump threatened to leave the Paris climate agreement. Merkel then consulted the head of the Catholic Church and, without naming names, asked for advice on how to deal with people “with fundamentally different opinions in a group of important personalities.”

Pope Francis immediately saw that Merkel was referring to Trump and his plan to withdraw from the climate agreement. “He understood me immediately and answered me simply: ‘Bend, bend, bend, but make sure it doesn’t break.’ I liked this picture,” writes Merkel.

According to the ex-Chancellor, Trump had no interest in a well-functioning global community. “For him, all countries were in competition with each other, in which the success of one was the failure of the other. He did not believe that the prosperity of all could be increased through cooperation.”

Merkel’s memoirs, which she completed before the US presidential election, will be published in over 30 countries on November 26th. A week later, Merkel will present the book “Freedom” to the public in Washington together with former US President Barack Obama, with whom she had a close political relationship.