“To find convincing answers for the future,” she said, “it is good to know what we achieved in the past.”
Mr. Trump, the New Yorker, presented a large chunk of the North Tower of the World Trade Center where the first hijacked plane made impact on Sept. 11, 2001,
leading NATO allies for the first time to invoke the collective defense clause, Article V, which European leaders were hoping Mr. Trump would endorse.
Barely two hours later, Ms. Merkel was among the European leaders who greeted Mr. Trump coolly at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where few casual
words, let alone warm ones, were exchanged, as the new American president once again castigated allies for not paying their fair share of bills.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany started Thursday in Berlin with the 44th president — the one she has called “dear Barack.” She spent the afternoon
in Brussels with the 45th, Donald J. Trump, whose election she greeted with a stern reminder to respect shared values like equality and freedom.
For European leaders like Ms. Merkel, striking a balance between coaxing Mr. Trump into a deeper understanding with
America’s traditional allies, while remaining true to their own political principles, is proving to be tricky.
She was with Mr. Obama, “the good American who everyone is already missing,”
and then with President Trump, “the other America which needs to be dealt with.
European Visits by Trump and Obama Are a Study in Contrasts -
By ALISON SMALEMAY 25, 2017
BERLIN — The contrast could not have been more stark.