After returning to the U.S. from his first international trip, President Donald Trump said the relationship between Germany and the U.S is”very bad” and “will change.”
Trump’s early Tuesday morning tweet also slammed Germany’s trade surplus and defense spending and comes after he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among other leaders, gathered at the G7 summit in Italy last week.
“We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change,” Trump tweeted.
We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017
Trump’s tweet comes just after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union can no longer “fully count on others”—an apparent jab on the U.S.—in a speech over the weekend.
“And so all I can say is that we Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands,” she said.
Merkel suggested the G7 summit a wakeup call as policy differences emerged between Germany and the U.S. At the summit, Trump was the only leader unable to commit to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which is aimed at slowing global warming. Trump has said he would make his “final decision” on the Paris Accord this week.
Over the weekend, Germany’s foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said Trump’s actions have weakened the West, according to CNN.
“The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union,” Gabriel said. “The West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker.”