Inserts:
00:22 Friedrich Merz / German Chancellor, Washington, D.C.
01:30 Friedrich Merz / German Chancellor, Washington, D.C.
02:49 Friedrich Merz / German Chancellor, Washington, D.C.
03:37 Friedrich Merz / German Chancellor, Washington, D.C.

Script:

Michaela [00:00:01 - 00:00:19]

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is with me now. You're coming straight from your first in person meeting with Donald Trump. You clearly had a rapport there, but you had an in detail meeting with him afterwards. Did you get any concrete commitments on Ukraine after you reminded him that the United States will make the difference there?

Merz [00:00:20 - 00:01:09]

Indeed, we talked intensively about several issues. One of those was Ukraine and this terrible war on Ukraine from Russia. We talked about trade and tariffs. This was not my expectation to move today, the president, to a new decision. But I argued and I tried to convince him that we are now together in the duty to put more pressure on Russia to come to an end of this war. But on the other hand, I know that this is a very complicated issue. Even here in the US, we are having this strong debate in the Senate. I'm optimistic, but I'm not so optimistic to predict that this will now change overnight something on the territory of Ukraine.

Michaela [00:01:10 - 00:01:24]

Donald Trump indeed also spoke of Russia and Ukraine potentially running out of patience and that he would be willing to hit either of them very hard. How close, in your sense, is he to running out of patience over Ukraine?

Merz [00:01:26 - 00:02:27]

Well, he's seeing that his several initiatives of the last weeks did not succeed and that President Putin is obviously not willing to stop this war, even though they had a very long phone call only yesterday. So, we are talking about instruments, what we can do jointly between the European Union with Germany and America on this side of the Atlantic. I don't have an answer today, but I'm sure that he is thinking about what he could do more. And I reminded him that America always was in charge globally to put pressure on those who are going to war. And it's the 6th of June tomorrow, so-called D-Day when the Americans invaded Europe to stop the war in Europe in 1944. This could be a similar historic situation, not with military actions, but with pressure on Russia to end this war.

Michaela [00:02:28 - 00:02:43]

He clearly appreciated that historic reference. Trade was the other sticking point. He keeps saying that he loves tariffs. Few else do, not even the US markets. How close is he to feeling pressure that this could also harm the United States?

Merz [00:02:43 - 00:03:30]

Well, we are working within a very tight time schedule. We would like to see an agreement within the next couple of weeks. We still have some time until the beginning of July. This is the deadline the American government has set. This is an issue which is not just on the German side to be resolved. We have to coordinate that within the European Union. We are doing that. I will go back to Europe and talk to my European colleagues on that. And we are trying to make proposals how to overcome the situation. High tariffs is not in our interest. And I'm trying to convince the US government, especially the president, that we should come to a solution. But this will take a while.

Michaela [00:03:30 - 00:03:33]

How will you measure whether this meeting made a real difference?

Merz [00:03:35 - 00:04:02]

I will measure that with regular meetings and phone calls and concessions on both sides and the willing to have an agreement, and this is my takeaway from today: He is really willing to have an agreement on trade and if we could achieve that within a foreseeable period of time, we would have achieved much more than former governments on both sides of the Atlantic did. So this is a real great opportunity.

Michaela [00:04:03 - 00:04:16]

Just finally, you have the same first name, Friedrich, as the grandfather of the US president. You gave him a facsimile of the birth certificate. So overall, is this a new friendship? Is this a transatlantic bromance even?

Merz [00:04:16 - 00:04:34]

No, it's, it's a very close cooperation. We met for the first time ever today in our capacities as leaders. And I very much hope that we will be able to cooperate closely, openly and with good colleagues from both sides of the Atlantic.

Michaela [00:04:34 - 00:04:36]

Chancellor Merz thank you very much.

Merz

Thank you.