Half a handshake and a VERY chilly reception: Angela Merkel greets Trump as he arrives at the G20
President Donald Trump met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday at the Royal Castle in Warsaw
Trump later questioned if the West has the ‘will to survive’ in a landmark speech at Krasinski Square
He said North Korea would face ‘consequences’ and admitted Russia ‘could have’ interfered with the election
Trump hit Russia later for its ‘destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran’
He urged Vladimir Putin’s government to join the US and its allies in the fight against violent extremism.
Visit to Warsaw comes before a journey to Germany for the G20 summit on Friday and Saturday
By Francesca Chambers, White House Correspondent
DailyMail.com
6 July 2017
President Donald Trump arrived in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday for an intense two-day stretch at the G20 summit that will put his diplomatic prowess to the ultimate test as he sits down with Russia’s president, a former KGB spy, for the first time.
Trump browbeat Russia earlier in the day, from Poland, for its ‘destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran’ and urged Vladimir Putin’s government to join the US and its allies in the fight against violent extremism.
But he refused to pin election hacking last year in the US on the Kremlin, saying he thinks it was Putin’s government, but it ‘could have been other people in other countries.’
The meeting between Trump and Putin is the most anticipated of the bilateral talks on the American president’s schedule. Sanctions, election meddling, the fighting in Syria and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are all on the table.
A meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this afternoon could also turn terse over Trump’s dramatic exit last month from the international climate accord known as the Paris agreement and trade relations.
A mishap on Trump’s last trip to Europe led to a mistranslation of a condemnation of Germany’s trade deficit.
Word quickly spread that the US president had called the WWII opponent that is now an ally ‘evil’ when he really said their trade practices were ‘bad’ for the U.S.
Germany is part of the European Union, which means that Trump cannot negotiate an updated trade agreement with Merkel directly. He cannot negotiate a new climate deal for the US with her unilaterally, either, but both topics will come up.
The fight against ISIS and North Korea’s latest provocations are also top of mind for the US president, who delivered a hard-hitting speech today and took questions from the news media that touched on both of those topics this morning in Poland.
Trump’s sit-down with Merkel is the latest in a relationship that has showed repeated signs of strain. During a G7 meeting in Brussels in May, Trump blasted Germany over its trade surplus with the United States.
‘The Germans are very, very bad,’ Trump said, in remarks highlighted by German magazine Der Spiegel. ‘Look at the millions of cars they’re selling in the US. Terrible. We will stop this,’ Trump continued, neglecting to mention substantial German investment in the U.S., such as a major BMW plant in Spartanburg, S.C.
Merkel responded afterward in Munich in terms that sounded as if she were beginning to doubt the U.S. commitment to the transatlantic relationship. She said Europe must ‘really take our fate into our own hands.’ She added: ‘The times in which we could rely fully on others—they are somewhat over. This is what I experienced in the last few days.’
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