A day before he flew to Washington to see President Trump, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany explained to reporters why he did not plan to raise objections with the president over America’s nascent war with Iran.
“Now is not the moment to lecture our partners and allies,” Mr. Merz said.
But on Tuesday in the Oval Office, Mr. Merz joined Mr. Trump in a lecture of sorts of a common ally — Spain. It was a notable exchange in a televised meeting where Mr. Trump repeatedly praised Mr. Merz as a friend, while criticizing other Europeans, and Mr. Merz rarely spoke.
The chancellor later told reporters that he had privately stood up for Spain and Britain as allies, which also drew Mr. Trump’s ire, in a luncheon conversation with the president after the Oval Office meeting.
“I didn’t want to deepen the discussion there publicly,” Mr. Merz said, adding a moment later that he did not believe Mr. Trump’s criticism was justified.
Mr. Merz has in recent months appealed to Europeans to stand stronger together, reducing their economic and military reliance on the United States and on China, at a time when the world’s great powers are increasingly eschewing international institutions and seeking to influence global events with raw power alone.
German officials had already signaled the chancellor was unlikely to push those themes in what was his third White House meeting with Mr. Trump in the span of a year. Instead, Mr. Merz was hoping to engage Mr. Trump on how to quickly end the Iran war and stabilize the Middle East in its aftermath, alongside discussions of trade policy and the war in Ukraine.
At first, it seemed the chancellor was content to allow Mr. Trump to do most of the talking, without interruptions or objections. He listened as Mr. Trump criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain — “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” — and threatened to cut off all trade ties with Spain as a punitive measure.
Mr. Trump complained at length that Spanish leaders were not spending enough on their military, and that they had not allowed American forces to use their bases to launch attacks on Iran. A reporter asked Mr. Merz his reaction.
“The answer on that is quite simple,” Mr. Merz said. He said Spain needed to increase military spending, in keeping with commitments by Germany, France and other NATO allies to shoulder a larger financial burden for their own defense.
“Spain is the only one who is not willing to accept that,” Mr. Merz said. “And we are trying to convince them that this is part of our common security, that we all have to comply with.”
Mr. Trump approved. “Spain has been very, very uncooperative,” he said.
Mr. Merz has tried to make it a habit not to offend major world leaders in public. Last week, he visited China, and criticized Chinese trade policies he said hurt German firms, but took care to use respectful language.
On his first trip to see Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, last June, Mr. Merz praised the president effusively. He did not do so on Tuesday, though he greeted Mr. Trump warmly and thanked him for the invitation to stay in his guesthouse on Monday evening.
Mr. Trump, though, complimented Mr. Merz and his country repeatedly.
“They’re a respected country,” Mr. Trump said. “I have a very good relationship with the country — in particular now, with this leader.”
Jim Tankersley is the Berlin bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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