(AFP) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday he would not advise young people in his country to move to the United States for study or work, in the latest sign of cooling ties between Berlin and Washington. Last month, Merz had a high-profile spat with US President Donald Trump after the chancellor said Iran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table. Following the comment, Trump — who suggested Merz was doing a “terrible” job as leader — abruptly announced that the United States would pull 5,000 troops from bases in Germany.
At a gathering of German Catholics in the southern city of Wuerzburg on Friday, Merz garnered applause after saying: “I would not recommend to my children today that they go to the US to get an education and to work.” He cited “the social climate that has suddenly developed” in the United States and noted that “even the best educated in America have great difficulty in finding a job.”
Merz has traditionally been a transatlanticist in the mould of most centrist German politicians, but the relationship with the US has become increasingly strained under Trump’s administration. “I am a great admirer of America’s, but right now my admiration is not increasing,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience.
Even before the row over Iran, Merz had mentioned that a cultural “rift” has opened between the United States and Europe due to the culture wars embraced by Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. The Trump administration has charged that Europe faces a “civilisational decline” and has courted far-right parties on the continent. Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark, and his cutting back of support to Ukraine have also frayed ties between the US and its traditional European allies.
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