Merz made his initial remarks on Monday in an address to university students in Marsberg, telling them that “the Americans clearly have no strategy”.
“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” he said.
He added that the “entire nation” was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership.
Trump responded the following day with a post to Truth Social, where he said Merz thought it was “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” and “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” the post read.
When asked about the post in a press conference on Wednesday, Merz said the “personal relationship between the American president and myself remains just as good as before.”
He has not yet responded to Trump’s suggestion that he could reduce US troops in Germany.
