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Meeting to be closely watched after Oval Office fireworks

with

other leaders

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Wars in Ukraine and Middle East, and trade likely on

agenda

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Could set tone for US-German relations for years

By Sarah Marsh, Andrea Shalal and Andreas Rinke

BERLIN/WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - Germany's new

chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will hold his first face-to-face

talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in a high

stakes meeting in the Oval Office as Europe seeks to stave off

looming U.S. tariffs and sustain U.S. backing for Ukraine.

The 69-year-old conservative, who took the helm of Europe's

largest economy last month, is scheduled to join Trump for lunch

and one-on-one talks that analysts say could set the tone for

U.S.-German ties for years to come.

Germany's export-oriented economy stands more to lose from

U.S. tariffs than others and the country is also the second

largest military and financial backer of Ukraine in its defence

against Russia's invasion, after the United States.

The meeting comes amid a broader fraying of the transatlantic

relationship. Trump's administration has, for example,

intervened in domestic European politics in a break with past

practise, aligning with right-wing political movements and

challenging European policies on immigration and free speech.

The encounter will be closely watched after some recent

meetings in the Oval Office, with the leaders of Ukraine and

South Africa, for example, turned tense when Trump ambushed them

with false claims and accusations.

Merz and his entourage have sought coaching from other

leaders on how to deal with Trump to avoid conflict.

The meeting comes just weeks before a critical summit of the

NATO Western military alliance which is looking increasingly

strained given Trump's threats not to come to the aid of U.S.

allies that do not up their spending on defence.

Such threats are of particular concern to Germany, which has

relied on U.S. nuclear deterrence for its security since the end

of World War Two.

Merz has already made some bold policy moves that he can

highlight to appease Trump, analysts said. He has backed Trump's

demand to more than double NATO's spending target to 5% of

economic output, earning unprecedented praise last weekend from

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Merz, who has vowed a more assertive foreign policy, also

coordinated a visit by European leaders to Kyiv just days after

taking office, two European diplomat sources said.

"This shows that Germany is willing to accept a greater

responsibility for Ukraine and the European security order -

these are all things that have been wished for in the United

States over years and will be welcomed," said Sudha David-Wilp

of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

"Germany is well-positioned to show that it can help the

United States achieve its foreign policy goals."

The fact Merz was invited to stay in the Blair House guest

quarters across from the White House is a positive signal, said

analysts.

KINDRED SPIRIT OR FOE?

Merz and Trump could even find some common ground given

their business backgrounds, their membership in right-of-centre

political parties, their focus on fighting illegal immigration

and their fondness for golf, said Steven Sokol, President and

CEO of the American Council on Germany.

They also both had run-ins with former German chancellor

Angela Merkel - who once squeezed Merz out of top-level

politics.

Moreover Merz has described himself as "a convinced

transatlanticist", chairing the "Atlantic Bridge", a non-profit

fostering U.S.-German ties, for 10 years.

"They might discover a kindred spirit," Sokol said.

Still, Trump was unpredictable, while Merz was impulsive,

warned analysts, and there were huge frictions in the

relationship.

"The challenge that he could face is ... if Trump says

something is erroneous, do you correct him? Do you risk turning

it into an argument?" said Jeffrey Rathke, a former U.S.

diplomat and president of the American-German Institute at the

Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

"Or do you find a way to indicate that you see it

differently, but not let it sidetrack the conversation."

U.S. administration officials remain upset that Merz

criticized Trump shortly before the 2024 U.S. election, a source

familiar with its thinking said.

And, on the eve of his own election victory, Merz criticised

the "ultimately outrageous" comments flowing from Washington

during the campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions

from Russia.

Another possible landmine could be a recent German proposal

for a levy on online platforms such as Alphabet's Google

, and Meta's Facebook, especially given

Trump's close ties with the U.S. tech industry, he said.