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US President Donald Trump kisses Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel as G7 leaders and guests gather for a family picture in front of the Biarritz lighthouse on the second day of the annual G7 summit in Biarritz, France.
For Germans, Friday’s working session between President Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House proved unexpectedly cordial and, at times, odd.
The chancellor, who is usually reserved, looked surprised when Donald Trump greeted her with a kiss on each cheek, a move the president seemed to have picked up from the French during the first state visit by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, earlier this week.
It is not, however, a German tradition, and the pecks drew a flurry of German commentary, including from the daily tabloid giant Bild, which referred in a video to the intimate greeting as the “first surprise” of the Trump-Merkel meeting.
Other surprises followed, including Trump repeatedly shaking Merkel’s hand. (Their first meeting is best remembered for its lack of handshakes.) The president also gushed over the chancellor winning a fourth term.
