White House Reaction Following Merkel's Critical Remarks and Trump's Tweet

Following the critical remarks of the German Chancellor and political leaders regarding Donald Trump's policies, and then the critical response from the U.S. President, the White House stated that the leaders of the two countries "have a very good relationship." Sean Spicer, the White House spokesperson, said on June 9 that Trump and Merkel "have a very good relationship" and that the U.S. President "has a great deal of respect" for the German Chancellor. Spicer also added that for Trump, "not only Germany, but all of Europe, is considered an important ally of the U.S." These remarks came just hours after a critical tweet from the U.S. President. Before Trump addressed Germany on Twitter, several German political officials, including the Chancellor, the Foreign Minister, and the leader of the opposition party, had criticized Trump's administration's policies. The criticisms in Germany began after Donald Trump returned to Washington from his first foreign trip as President of the United States, where he met with European leaders. Recent meetings showed that the parties have disagreements on several issues, including combating climate change, NATO spending, and trade relations. On June 7, the German Chancellor, in a speech to supporters of the ruling party in Germany, stated that maintaining friendly relations with Britain and the U.S. is very important; however, this continent can no longer fully rely on them and "the time when we could completely depend on others is over." She then reiterated similar sentiments on Monday, emphasizing that Europe must take its fate into its own hands. While Merkel stressed the "extraordinary importance" of relations with Washington, she stated that it is time for Europe to become an "active player" in international affairs. Sigmar Gabriel, the German Foreign Minister, and Martin Schulz, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, also expressed criticism of the current U.S. administration's policies. However, Gabriel emphasized that "America is larger and older than the current disagreements" and he believes that the two sides will "resume their good relations in the future." Hours after the German officials' remarks, President Trump criticized the trade balance with Germany on his Twitter account and once again warned about NATO spending. Trump wrote, "We have a huge trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay much less than they should for NATO and military. This is very bad for the U.S. It will change." These criticisms from the current U.S. President are a repetition of similar criticisms that were reportedly made during his meeting with Merkel. During his trip, Trump criticized Germany for failing to meet NATO's payment goals, military spending, and trade issues such as the status of car exports. However, the criticism regarding NATO spending has not been limited to Germany, as the U.S. President states that most members of this military alliance have ignored their commitments to allocate two percent of their GDP to defense matters.