“He’s not very responsive to me at the moment,” said Merz at a CDU event in Bad Dürkheim, Palatinate.

Merz had invited Trump to Germany and also to Bad Dürkheim during a visit to Washington last year – Trump’s ancestors come from Kallstadt in the Bad Dürkheim district.

Trump at the sausage market?

“The last time I was with him was two and a half weeks ago, he asked me when I was going to Bad Dürkheim next,” said Merz. He wanted to try Trump to the traditional September sausage market in Bad Dürkheim. “I don’t know if I’ll succeed. It’ll be a nightmare for the Secret Service,” said Merz, not without a wink. He will speak to Trump at the weekend. “Allow me to send him greetings.”

Despite all the differences of opinion, he will continue to work for good relations with the USA. “I don’t want to give up this transatlantic partnership,” emphasized Merz. He is currently saying that in the Palatinate. “Few areas in Germany are so closely connected to American soldiers and their families.”

Rhineland-Palatinate will vote on Sunday

The US Air Force Base Ramstein is located in the Palatinate. The huge air base not far from Kaiserslautern is the central US hub for military operations in Europe and Africa.

Merz supported the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU top candidate for the state elections on Sunday, Gordon Schnieder, in Bad Dürkheim. Surveys suggest a neck-and-neck race between Schnieder’s CDU and Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer’s SPD.