U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, accusing him of suggesting that Iran could be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, one day after the chancellor stated that the United States is being “humiliated” by Iran.
“The chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump wrote. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If Iran had a nuclear weapon, the whole world would be held hostage.”
Speaking on Monday, Merz said in German that “at the moment, I cannot see what strategic exit the Americans are now opting for, especially as the Iranians are obviously negotiating very skillfully, or rather, very skillfully not negotiating, and letting the Americans travel to Islamabad only to leave again without any results.”
“An entire nation is being humiliated, the Iranian leadership, particularly through these so-called revolutionary guards,” Merz said, adding that the conflict is negatively affecting Germany’s economy.
“I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other nations, or presidents, should have done long ago,” Trump wrote on Tuesday. “No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and otherwise.”
