Merkel in the USA: a visit to number four

One of her last trips abroad as Chancellor takes Merkel to US President Biden. You already know each other from before. Anyone who, like Merkel, has been in office for 16 years inevitably has to deal with several US presidents.

When Angela Merkel visits the White House this time, she will be welcomed by the fourth host during her 16-year term as Federal Chancellor. Joe Biden is still no stranger to her. The two know each other from his time as Obama’s vice president.

Merkel’s Washington trip is one of her last trips abroad. But more than just beautiful pictures, a dinner and a wistful farewell are planned.

There are solid political problems to be solved. Example: The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline is also displeasing to the new US government. However, Biden has made it clear that the project should not stand in the way of restarting German-American relations. He initially suspended sanctions against the building, although Republicans and Democrats in Congress disagree.

So Biden is making an advance payment here. Does the German Chancellor have something in her luggage to meet the President for her part? Or does he have to wait until the balance of power in Germany has been reorganized after the general election?

Signal as opposition leader to George W. Bush

Anyone who ruled as Chancellor for almost 16 years like Merkel inevitably has to deal with several US presidents because their term of office is limited to a maximum of eight years. She sent a signal to her “first” President, George W. Bush, when she was still an opposition leader in the Bundestag. “Schröder does not speak for all Germans” was the title of her article in the “Washington Post” in February 2003, with which Merkel wanted to distance herself from the negative position of the then Chancellor on the Iraq war.

But even Bush and Merkel were not always of the same opinion later. In 2008, when he wanted to pave the way for Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO with a specific plan, it turned itself across the board. Had Bush prevailed, the later conflicts in the countries would have put NATO in a difficult position. The Chancellor’s resistance was “one of the most important decisions of her term in office,” says long-time Merkel observer Ralph Bollmann in his recently published biography.

Bush and Merkel built a trusting relationship. This is also shown by the pictures from the visit to the private ranch in Texas. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, he now called the Chancellor “a compassionate leader, a woman who is not afraid to lead”.

It wasn’t always easy with Obama

Bush was succeeded by Barack Obama. Their relationship started with a no. The presidential candidate wanted to give a speech at the Brandenburg Gate during his visit to Berlin in 2008. The Chancellor did not allow that. And while many Germans readily saw Obama as a kind of messiah, Merkel had a different view for a long time. In his book “A Promised Land” he writes: “Your team later admitted that they initially viewed me with skepticism, precisely because of my ability as a speaker.” That should change. In 2011, Obama awarded her one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Merkel and her number two president have had political controversies over the years. In 2013 it became particularly tense. Suddenly there were allegations that US secret services had also targeted the Chancellor’s cell phone. “Spying on friends – that doesn’t work at all,” she said into the microphones before an EU summit in Brussels. Now trust needs to be restored.

But over the years an intense relationship developed. In 2016 it was warm-hearted in the Chancellery. “It is of course difficult to say goodbye,” said Merkel at the joint press conference. And Obama said on record: “I could not have imagined a more stable partner on the world stage.”

The evening before, both spoke in private for three hours at the Hotel Adlon. Obama later told his adviser Ben Rhodes that the upcoming decision for or against Merkel’s fourth term in office had been discussed. She felt more committed to Brexit and Trump. Was it he who persuaded Merkel to carry on so that she would hold the western democracies together after Trump was elected? Even years later, Merkel does not want to comment on this in a CNN interview.

It got frosty with Trump

With Trump in the White House, the tone changed and the transatlantic relationship became frosty. International cooperation did not fit the America first concept. There were bizarre moments: when Trump spoke in front of the cameras that he also had “German in his blood”, the Chancellor, who was always under control, lost control next to him and snorted briefly. Above all, however, there was a regular and completely undiplomatic hail of wild accusations from the US President: Germany was not fulfilling its obligations in NATO. And the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline also aroused Trump.

In May 2019 Merkel received an honorary doctorate from the renowned Harvard University. In her speech to the senior year, she passed on her experiences. “This includes that we do not call lies truths and truths do not call lies.” At this sentence, the audience could no longer stay in their chairs. The name Trump was never mentioned. But the speech was not only seen in the USA as a public settlement with the president.

So now a visit to President number four. Biden announces America is back. As Chancellor Merkel will only work for a limited time on the new German-American friendship. But she is still in office.