German leader Merz meets with Trump and addresses Europe at Munich Security Conference

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz traveled to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. The meeting was part of Merz's broader trip to the United States, which occurred around the same time as the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany.

At the Munich conference, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a major speech calling for Europe to align more closely with the United States to save Western civilization, a message European leaders received with caution. In his own address, Merz spoke of a growing divide between Europe and the U.S. and called for repairing and reviving transatlantic trust. He also disagreed publicly with French President Emmanuel Macron on several European policy issues, including debt and potential talks with Russia.

Other notable figures at the conference included U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who warned Europe about Trump and accused him of ushering in an 'age of authoritarianism.' Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also attended, meeting with various world leaders and calling for major countries to practice multilateralism.