Friedrich Trumpf

The German news portal T-Online reported:

Friedrich Trumpf in 1902 (©Max Lederle @ Lederle & Flocken company)

In 1885, Friedrich Trumpf traveled from Germany to America. The then 16-year-old did not want to do military service and was therefore banished by the Bavarian state.

He left his home in Kallstadt in the Palatinate for New York, where his son Frederick was born some 20 years later.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office (©Nathan Howard)

Not doing military service sounds familiar. Frederick's great-grandson, Donald, is spending his second term as the 49th US president in the White House that 140 years ago, no one could have known.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin (Archive Image ©Annegret Hilse)

Today, another Friedrich travels from Germany to America. Not to emigrate, but to sound out the most powerful man in the world, Friedrich Trumpf's great-great-grandson, on his views on Europe and Germany.

For German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, this is his first delicate and decisive trip to Washington. It is intended to lay the crucial personal foundation for everything that needs to be accomplished with this US administration in the coming years, including joint trade, tariffs, cooperation in NATO, support for Ukraine, and addressing relations with Russia, China, and the Middle East.

©IMAGO

Will Merz offer Trump his private plane, a Diamond Aircraft DA62, as an inaugural gift?

According to sources close to Trump, Merz is seen as an "upgrade." His long absence from German politics and his work for the American investment firm BlackRock give him a certain authenticity. Trump is said to appreciate that Merz, like himself, has not always been part of the political class, at least not continuously.

There is a side issue to the discussions. Germany's domestic intelligence service, BfV, designated the far-right Alternative für Germany (AfD) party as a "right-wing extremist" entity. The AfD was labeled as such due to its attempts to "undermine the free, democratic" order in the country.

Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio wrote on X:

Consequently, Rubio recently received the German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, in Washington rather coldly.

Will President Trump confront Chancellor Merz with this German interior affair as he had previously attacked the Presidents of Ukraine and South Africa in the Oval Office on their "home" issues?

Elon Musk shared JD Vance's Twitter.

Or even worse, will Trump send his Vice President, JD Vance, to the front line?

Trump and Merz, it would be better if you got along.

Have a good trip and good luck, Fritze Merz

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