German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed during a phone call that the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea should be reopened quickly. The leaders also discussed the next steps toward ending the war in Ukraine.
German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said that Merz praised the U.S. Congress for passing the Graham Sanctions Act.
The September 11 attacks were remembered
The conversation also included the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. As the 25th anniversary of the attacks was commemorated last week, Merz emphasized the special bond between Germans and Americans.
The phone call had initially been scheduled for last week, to coincide with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The German government canceled the call without giving a reason and rescheduled it.
Trump’s praise for the AfD had drawn criticism
Shortly before the call was rescheduled, Trump had praised the electoral success of the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The German government had criticized the U.S. president’s remarks.
At the time, the German government’s coordinator for transatlantic relations, Metin Hakverdi, said that Germans themselves decide how to deal with migration and whom to vote for. Hakverdi said they did not need advice from the White House.