Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Matthew Moore
00:07 Friedrich Merz | German Chancellor | May 28
00:28 Matthew Moore | Political Correspondent
01:41 Donald Trump | US President | December, 2015
01:53 JD  Vance | US Vice President | February, 2025
02:59 Matthew Moore | Political Correspondent

Since taking office, Friedrich Merz has made it his mission to keep Donald Trump at Europe’s side.  

((Reuters - RWNE_20250528_7463 )) 
+++SOT MERZ+++ 
“I would like to take this opportunity to expressly thank the U.S. President for his personal commitment in recent weeks.” 

((show zelenksyy and rampahosa)) RWNE_20250521_6065 

"Your country is in big trouble."
"I know"

But recent Oval Office encounters suggest that Merz will need to be on guard when he enters the lion's den.

((Reporter in Vision))

From Tariffs to the far-right AfD: let’s look at five potential flashpoints. 

1. Defense & Ukraine 

Donald Trump says that Germany has skimped on military spending while enjoying US protection.  

Per head spending on defense shows the vast difference. 

((Merz in Lithuania))

Merz has recently embraced Trump’s demand for 5% defense spending in NATO.  

But Trump might not like the fine print - that some of that would go to infrastructure. 

And on the issue of support for Ukraine, Trump has hit-out at Europeans for doing too little at the US' expense. 

((reporter in vision))

2.  Big Tech and Free Speech 

This is one issue where the two sides are at odds. 

Trump world thinks German and EU rules on content moderation are censorship - an attack on free speech. 

The Europeans and Merz want Big Tech to clamp down on harmful content and pay more tax. 

Just days before Merz’s visit, Germany added fuel to the fire announcing plans to slap a 10% levy on Meta and Alphabet.  

3.  Migration 

Trump has long bashed Germany over this issue. 

In 2015, he attacked Angela Merkel after she welcomed a million refugees fleeing war.  

"She's in the process of destroying her country." 

The president’s inner circle frames “mass immigration” as an existential threat to European identity and culture.  

+++JD VanceSOT+++ 
“I believe there is nothing more urgent than mass migration” February 14, 2025, Munich 

((border controls))

Merz is taking a tougher line on irregular migration than his predecessors.  

Could that defuse the issue or will Trump double down? 

4.Trade & Tariffs 

For years, Donald Trump has fumed that Germany sells more to the US than it buys.  

He hit German cars with 25% tariffs, which have been paused for now. 

It will be Merz’s job to explain why tariffs are bad for business and that trade with Germany is a win-win.  

5. AfD  

Trump’s team has courted Germany’s far-right AfD party  

First Elon Musk.  

+++SOT ELON MUSK+++ Medialoopster unter Moore 
"Fight for a great future for Germany,   

((JD vance giving speech the MSC)) 

Then there was JD Vance’s bombshell intervention in the German elections, when he called on political leaders to work with the AfD.  

"There is no room for firewalls."

((can we show headline https://www.dw.com/en/german-afd-party-labeled-extremist-by-domestic-intelligence-agency/a-72413346 and https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1918344238468649055))  

After Germany’s security services labeled the AfD as a rightwing extremist threat to democracy, US secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “tyranny in disguise”.  

((reporter in vision)) 
If that comes up, Merz will be under huge pressure.  
 
All of these issues could make for an explosive showdown in the Oval Office.  

Much will depend on whether the German chancellor can keep his cool.