Angela Merkel and Donald Trump - Values, Interests, and the Future of the West

German Chancellor Merkel and US President Donald Trump did not get off to a good start. Their relationship so far has been lukewarm at best. Trump's deficits in understanding and lack of support for democracy and the liberal world order as it was established by Trump's predecessors in the mid-1940s deeply worries European politicians. In view of their own past history and the expectation that Germany may have to step in and become the western world's leading defender of western values, most German policy makers, including the long-serving chancellor, are particularly annoyed and distraught about the developments in the US. This article will analyse the evolving relationship between Angela Merkel and Donald Trump since the latter moved into the Oval Office in January 2017. The article will highlight both the more fundamental structural problems and the day-to-day political hurdles in German-American relations.