German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been a bit on the defensive since his earlier in the week swipe at President Trump over launching the war against Iran. The German leader had told students in a talk that the US is being "humiliated" by Iranian leaders. He had also asserted, "If I had known that it would continue like this for five or six weeks and get progressively worse, I would have told him even more emphatically."
As we covered earlier Thursday, Merz has tried to soften the spat, after Trump responded on Truth Social earlier, "From my perspective, my personal relationship with the US President remains good," he told reporters. "I simply had doubts from the start about what was begun with the war in Iran. That is why I have made that clear."
But that hasn't quieted Trump, who again hit back again in a fresh Thursday morning Truth Social post, which emphasized that the German Chancellor should focus more on problems like the Russia-Ukraine war, where "he has been totally ineffective" - Trump said.
The US President once again reiterated that Germany is "broken" - and that this especially true on immigration and energy. He also reiterated that his Operation Epic Fury is making "the World, including German, a safer place!"
However, Merz earlier sought to place some of Germany's economic woes precisely on the war raging in the Middle East, and ongoing Strait of Hormuz closure. His initial April 29 remarks had included the following: "In Germany and Europe we are suffering from the consequences, such as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” he had said.
Wednesday night saw Trump issue a new, important threat, which he has been teasing as a possibility for day:
"The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Responsible Statecraft's Trita Parsi is also a deep Iran war critic, but says that EU leaders are full of hypocrisy on the Iran issue, and that it needs to be called out. Parsi writes:
Merz isn't wrong in saying he's "disillusioned" with the US & Israel over Iran because they "claimed at the beginning that they could solve this problem within days. Now I must recognize: It is not solved." But he is in no position to complain. He applauded the war and as a result, owns the outcome. This is typical of some EU leaders who support and help facilitate the US's worst instincts, and then pretend they are innocent when the foreign policy adventure predictably goes wrong.
The comments underscore several European leaders’ reassessment of their relations with Trump. A tendency to smooth ties by currying favor has given way to a more sober perspective of a U.S. president who has repeatedly called into question NATO, bolstered European far-right forces and threatened to seize Greenland, a territory of Denmark.
Meanwhile Merz holds a presser in military fatigues, hilariously enough...
Regardless, the fresh critique by a leading EU head of state is certainly going to add fuel to the fire of Trump's ratcheting anti-EU and anti-NATO rhetoric, given their absence in helping the US get the Strait of Hormuz back open and the return to normal functioning of global energy transit once again.