BERLIN: US president-elect Donald Trump has a fascination with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel says in her memoirs, according to excerpts published by Die Zeit newspaper on Thursday.

At their first meeting in Washington in March 2017 after Trump was elected to his first term in the White House, the US leader “asked me a series of questions”, Merkel said.

Trump wanted to know about “my East German background and my relationship with Putin. He was clearly very fascinated by the Russian president,” she said.

“In the years that followed, I had the impression that has was captivated by politicians with autocratic and dictatorial tendencies.” Merkel’s memoir, “Freedom”, co-written with her longtime political adviser Beate Baumann, is due to be published simultaneously in 30 languages on Tuesday.

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Former German leader’s memoir, Freedom, is due to be published simultaneously in 30 languages

The eagerly anticipated 736-page book is expected to shed new light on Merkel’s four terms in office between 2005 and 2021, during which she was the world’s most powerful woman.

In the excerpts published by Die Zeit, Merkel said that when she flew home after her first meeting with Trump, she was left with “a bad feeling”.

Trump greeted Merkel with a handshake in front of the press but when journalists asked for a second handshake he ignored them, she said. Merkel whispered to him that they should shake hands again but he did not take the hint.

During their meeting, Trump repeated many of the criticisms he had made of Germany during his election campaign.

“He claimed that I had ruined Germany by taking in so many refugees in 2015 and 2016, accused us of spending too little on defence and criticised us for unfair trade practices,” Merkel said.

The sight of many German cars on the streets of New York in particular had been “a thorn in his side”, she said.

“We were talking on two different levels — Trump on the emotional level, me on the factual level. When he did pay attention to my arguments, it was mostly just to turn them into new accusations,” she said.

“Resolving the issues raised did not appear to be his goal.” Merkel concluded from the meeting that there would be “no joint work for an interconnected world with Trump”. “He judged everything from the perspective of the real estate entrepreneur he had been before politics…

“For him, all countries were in competition with each other and the success of one meant the failure of the other.”

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2024