New German Chancellor Merz to meet Trump in White House on Thursday
New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Thursday, government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in Berlin on Saturday.
A meeting between the two leaders at the White House, a joint lunch and a subsequent press event are planned, he said.
This is the first meeting between the two since Merz took office on May 6. Before that, they had only briefly encountered each other many years ago in New York.
Merz will depart for Washington on Wednesday evening after a dinner with the premiers of Germany's 16 federal states in Berlin, Kornelius said. At the state premiers' conference on Thursday, he will be represented his chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, he added.
Trump will have the chancellor stay at his guest house, Blair House, next to the White House - a special honour, Kornelius said.
The talks in Washington are expected to focus on efforts to end the Ukraine war, NATO's response to growing external threats and the trade dispute between the United States and the European Union. However, the main issue is whether the two can establish a good rapport.
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