President Donald Trump has criticized Germany once again for its large trade surplus with the U.S. and its low contributions to NATO, saying this attitude is “very bad” for the United States.
The comments made on Twitter take current tensions in U.S.-German relations a notch higher.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a political rally Sunday that Germany and the European Union can no longer rely on the United States.
“The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over,” she told an election rally in Munich.
“I’ve experienced that in the last few days. We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands,” she urged. Her comments came as steps up her campaign to retain her role as leader at a federal election in September.
The image of friendly relations between Germany and the U.S. seems distant since Trump took office. His administration has previously said that Germany’s trade surplus is a result of the country’s manipulation of the euro.
Germany fought back arguing that it doesn’t have powers to manipulate the euro and the only reason consumers opt for its products is due to their high quality.
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