German Chancellor Angela Merkel couldn’t help but laugh when a reporter asked if it was really true that she’d been enchanted by President Donald Trump. There have been numerous accounts that show Merkel is anything but enchanted [1] by Trump, who has even, at one point called [2] the Chancellor “stupid” even though she has a PhD. in Physical Chemistry from Leipzig University, Forbes [3] reports.
Indeed, the relationship between Merkel and Trump is glacial, but that didn’t prevent Richard Grenell, the former U.S. director of National Intelligence and ambassador to Germany, from asserting [4] he’d seen Trump “charm” Merkel. And this is really weird because you’d have to live on Mars or be comatose if you don’t know that Merkel regards Trump as an insufferable idiot. Because he is one.
Even so, that didn’t prevent one reporter from asking her during an annual summer conference Friday if she could confirm Grenell’s account, Politico [5] reports.
“Oh I see,” Merkel said, looking down and smiling slyly, causing journalists in the room to erupt in laughter.
Ever the model of diplomacy, she responded by saying:
“I don’t report from internal discussions and so I won’t comment on this now.”
Then someone wanted to know if she was willing to work with Trump if he wins the presidential election in November.
“I work with every elected president of the United States,” she said. “What guides us are our values and of course the interests on the German and American side.”
But she also admitted she knew “there are differences of opinion here and there, which is in the nature of things,” including a “shared conviction that NATO is an important security policy alliance.”
Merkel has made it clear on at least one occasion that she can’t stand Trump and credited French President Emanuel Macron for having the patience to deal with him, and The New York Times [6] reports she’s said [1] at one point that “she doesn’t want to be in the same room with the guy,” in reference to Trump.
Here’s her response to Grenell’s absurd contention below.
This is one of my new favourite Merkel moments. A journalist asks her about Richard Grenell's claim that Trump "charmed" Merkel. You don't need to speak German to enjoy her reaction:pic.twitter.com/RSjHSNXXtX [7]
— Marcel Dirsus (@marceldirsus) August 28, 2020 [8]