German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has praised the "constructive" atmosphere at the Group of 7 summit in France, insisting that his relationship with US President Donald Trump has not become strained despite friction over the war in Iran.
"We spoke very openly with one another about the issues," Merz told journalists on the final day of the summit in Évian. "We also discussed the matters that concerned us here at this summit in a very constructive manner."
No subjects were off-topic, including in personal interactions between the leaders, Merz said, adding that he has found the summit to be "very constructive and characterized by a genuine spirit of cooperation."
"And at no point were there any personal tensions," he continued. "On the contrary, there was a high degree of political consensus on the major issues we discussed."
Merz and Trump had a very good start to their relationship last year. More recently, however, relations between the two have cooled considerably following sharp criticism from Merz over the Iran war.
The US president subsequently announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany.
The two leaders did not hold a bilateral meeting at the G7, but Merz did present Trump - who celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday - with a surprise gift of a personalized German football jersey in a nod to the World Cup.
