BERLIN—Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday postponed her trip to Washington for her first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump due to the late-winter storm expected on the U.S. east coast.
Merkel had been scheduled to arrive late Monday night for meetings with Trump on Tuesday but called off the trip at the last minute due to the weather, her office said.
The White House said the meeting was rescheduled for Friday.
When they do meet, the encounter between the trained physicist and veteran politician, renowned for her measured comments and reserved style, and the billionaire real-estate outsider whose off-the-cuff tweets and unconventional approach have rocked American politics could produce an interesting dynamic.
Though she’s talked by phone with Trump, Friday’s meeting in person with the new president will present her with a good opportunity to get a read of “who is calling the shots” and “who has the president’s ear,” said Sylke Tempel, an expert with the German Council on Foreign Relations.
“You can only find that out when you’re there, and this is a situation where she’s particularly good because she observes things,” Tempel said.
In Merkel’s 12 years as chancellor she worked well with both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and she’s also demonstrated that she won’t be pushed around by leaders who try to use what Tempel called “macho” tactics with her.
