Trump hits back at German chancellor after Iran criticism
- "The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!" Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war in Iran on Tuesday, a day after Merz said the Iranians were humiliating the United States in talks to end it.
“The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, mischaracterizing Merz’s position. Merz has said Iran must not have a nuclear weapon.
Merz said on Monday that Iran’s leadership was humiliating the United States and getting US officials to travel to Pakistan and then leave without results, in an unusually pointed rebuke over the conflict.
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Merz also said he did not see what exit strategy the US was pursuing in the Iran war - comments that underlined deep divisions between Washington and its European NATO allies, which had already been festering over Ukraine and other issues.
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