WASHINGTON, April 27, 2018 - Days after buttering up French President Emmanuel Macron with a state dinner and other ceremonies, President Trump faces a shorter and more somber summit Friday with another key European leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel has a much frostier relationship with Trump, though the German leader is expected to echo Macron by pushing back at the president's views on trade and the at-risk Iran nuclear agreement during a short meeting and lunch at the White House. "Look forward to meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany today," Trump tweeted a few hours before her arrival. "So much to discuss, so little time! It will be good for both of our great countries!" In the run-up to Friday's meetings, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that Trump and Merkel will "reaffirm the German-American partnership — bedrock of the transatlantic relationship and the NATO Alliance — as both nations work together to address a broad range of geopolitical and economic challenges." Trump and Merkel are also likely to discuss the current peace talks between South and North Korea. Trump and aides are negotiating a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as part of an ongoing effort to get him to give up nuclear weapons. Before the Merkel conference, Trump tweeted praise for the prospect of a Korean peace treaty. "KOREAN WAR TO END!" he said in one post. "The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!" While Merkel supports efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, she and Trump differ on another nuclear-tinged challenge: Iran. Like Macron and other European leaders, Merkel is expected to implore Trump to stick with the nuclear agreement in which the U.S. and allies reduce economic sanctions on Iran as it gives up the means to make nuclear weapons. Trump, who has criticized the agreement and claims Iran is violating it, faces a May 12 certification deadline and has indicated he may move to kill the deal; Merkel and other European leaders say that will only encourage the Iranians to pursue nuclear weapons. Trade will also come up, as it did with Macron. Trump has long protested Germany's trade surplus with the United States, and claims that German and European Union trade policies are unfair. Merkel and EU leaders criticized for proposed steel and aluminum tariffs they say could trigger a trade war that would slow the global economy. These differences also surfaced during Trump's meetings with Macron on Monday and Tuesday, but in a much different atmosphere. Macron made a state visit to the White House, receiving a formal welcome ceremony with 21-gun salute, a trip to Mount Vernon, and a state dinner. The two constantly shook hands and slapped each other on the back, inspiring any number of jokes about a new American-French "bromance." Merkel gets a 30-minute meeting and a "working lunch," though the two will also host a joint news conference. The two are expected to shake hands, something Trump seemed to want to avoid during a Merkel visit to the White House last year. In Germany, Merkel has publicly played down differences with Trump, saying she is more interested in promoting strategic partnership.
