Chancellor accusations towards WashingtonMerz and Trump are estranged over the Iran war

March 29, 2026 around 16:22 Clock

Friedrich Merz is a convinced transatlanticist. But in recent days it has become increasingly clear that the actions of US President Donald Trump are increasing the distance between the Chancellor and the government in Washington.

The highlight so far was an appearance by Merz on Friday evening at an event organized by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, where he indirectly accused Trump of taking an irresponsible course in connection with the Iran war – and no longer gave any hope of improving the relationship in Trump's only one year in office. “What Trump is doing at the moment is not de-escalation and an attempt to find a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an open outcome,” said Merz harshly.

This is notable for several reasons. The Chancellor contrasted the efforts of his own Foreign Minister. On Friday at the G7 meeting in dialogue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Johann Wadephul tried to emphasize agreement with Washington and praise US attempts at talks with the Iranian leadership. Merz's analysis, on the other hand, is unusually negative: “At the moment, the Americans and the Israelis are becoming more entangled in this conflict every day,” said Merz. “I have great doubts whether there is a strategy,” he added.

He buried the hope of a quick end to the war. “So it could take a little longer. It probably won't get any better.” This is consistent with reports that the USA is apparently preparing to deploy ground troops in Iran, which has a population of almost 90 million.

These Merz statements go beyond normal conflicts of interest between two governments. Because doubts about Trump himself are also growing. Since taking office, Merz has tried to maintain a good relationship with the US President. During his inaugural visit to the White House in June 2025, he invited him to Germany and scored points not only with a copy of Trump's grandfather's birth certificate from Germany, but also with his US knowledge and economic experience.

Merz repeatedly tried to make contacts, so that he was and is seen as one of the few top European politicians who could have any influence on this US President. He advocated in the EU not to seek a dispute in the customs conflict.

On March 3, he traveled to Washington only to speak with Trump at his request. In the Oval Office, Merz sounded even more understanding during their joint appearance and emphasized that they shared the American-Israeli goals, that Iran was no longer allowed to have a nuclear and missile program and was not allowed to support terrorist organizations in the region. But this conversation had already raised his doubts that there was no clear strategy.

In the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, Merz also expressed his personal disillusionment with Trump. “The conversation was not without contradictions,” said Merz about his telephone conversation with the US President last Sunday. And he expressed himself “just politely,” he added to the laughter of the audience. Within half an hour, Trump repeatedly said “I don't need NATO” – only to then publicly criticize the lack of support for the Western defense alliance. Until now, Merz had always referred to the confidentiality of the discussions, which, however, was often broken by Trump.

Mutual criticism has been building up for days. At the beginning of the Iran war, the CDU leader sounded even more understanding. But days ago, the Chancellor, like representatives of other European countries, emphasized that they would not take part in the war, which they had not been consulted about before it began and which he had advised against. But Germany is ready to provide support after the conflict. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described this attitude with the pithy sentence: “It is not our war.”

Merz seems to have given up hope for improvement. At the FAZ he emphasized that he himself did not want to give up the transatlantic alliance without necessity for a variety of reasons – among other things, Europe's security also depends on it. But his reasoning was ultimately a very critical judgment of the incumbent US president. “By the way, we don’t know what will happen after Trump,” said Merz. “I'm not necessarily convinced that things will get better immediately. But it may be that there is someone who judges the value of the transatlantic alliance differently.” German-American relations have long since become a difficult balancing act.

This is consistent with a deterioration in the situation on the other side of the Atlantic. On Thursday evening, Trump again criticized the Europeans for their lack of help. On Friday evening, he also mentioned the Chancellor himself for the first time in his criticism of NATO partners.

It is striking that despite all the criticism of the USA and Trump, the federal government avoids expressing similarly harsh criticism of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing nationalist government. Within the government, Netanyahu is seen as the driving force behind the attack on Iran and for some of the escalation steps in the region. Merz also repeatedly emphasizes that the real cause of tensions is Iran's threats against the Jewish state – which is why in 2025 he defended the Israeli-American attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities with the words that both countries also did the “dirty work” for the Europeans.

But now Washington and Jerusalem are accused of having different war goals. And the goal of overthrowing the Iranian leadership is more likely to be attributed to Israel. Merz thinks this is unrealistic. “If that's the goal, I don't think they'll achieve it,” he said Friday night. “That usually went wrong.”

Sources used: Andreas Rinke, rts