President Donald Trump appeared to know little, if anything, about international trade deals during an exchange with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March this year. White House officials reportedly characterized the talk as “humiliating.”
The Republican Trump asked Merkel about creating a new, bilateral trade deal between Germany and the U.S., even though, as a member of the European Union, Germany cannot strike such a deal without the other 27 members of the union, according to The New York Times.
Merkel was afraid to fully correct Trump since White House aides told German officials the four-term chancellor had been condescending to Trump during one of their first phone calls.
Instead, Merkel eased into an explanation that an agreement could be reached in concert with the EU.
“So it could be bilateral?” Trump asked Merkel, who nodded, according to those in the meeting. Trump responded: “That’s great.”
Trump then turned to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and said: “Wilbur, we’ll negotiate a bilateral trade deal with Europe.” German officials were reportedly relieved that no incident occurred, but White House officials told The Times they saw the exchange as “humiliating.”
Every day. Every single day there is yet another reason to be ashamed of who is running this country.
Angela Merkel literally had to talk to this idiot as she would a small child, while also hoping that she did not hurt his tiny feelings and cause an international incident.
Source http://ift.tt/2lvJd8V
