Despite declaring media reports of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s March disastrous visit to the White House as fake news, President Trump added an unexpected phone call to his schedule with Merkel last week in what has been called an attempt to smooth over the relationship.
Trump made the call to Merkel last Monday to offer his congratulates on her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party’s election victory in the southwestern state of Saarland. The victory wasn’t unexpected, nor was Merkel listed on the ballot, but a German official called the meeting an attempt on Trump’s part to “be nice”.
It has been said that the conversation included a discussion on their White House meeting, but Trump would not offer any apology on his controversial statements on Germany’s NATO contributions. Instead, Trump took a forward-looking approach by discussing how the two nations could work together on subjects and issues where there were common interests.
Throughout the campaign, and now his first few months in office, Trump has taken an unconventional political approach to the presidency. This phone call serves as an example to that as he continues to present different personas between public appearances and closed-door meetings.
