Oh dear. Anybody who thought that, contrary to expectations, Angela Merkel and Donald Trump might get along seems to have been gravely mistaken. The meeting between the two world leaders was meant to have been held on Tuesday, but was put off by a snow storm. Things still looked pretty chilly in Washington today.
Seated next to each other in the White House for the first photo-op, the Donald and the Angela – two leaders with obviously antithetical worldviews – looked terrifically awkward. They didn’t shake hands. Angela seemed slightly more civil. She tried to talk to the president. He just ignored her.
The press conference was only slightly warmer. The closest moment to friendliness was when Trump made quite a joke in relation to the Obama administration’s alleged spying both on his campaign and Ms Merkel’s government. ‘As far as wire-tapping, in the last administration’ he said, ‘at least we have something in common’.
The two tried at certain moments to sound positive.
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