During their first in-person meeting at the White House on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presented President Trump with a gilded, framed copy of his grandfather’s birth certificate.
The gold-framed gift, echoing the president’s signature Oval Office aesthetic, paid homage to Friedrich Trump, who was born in Kallstadt, Germany, in 1869 before immigrating to the United States.
“That’s serious German,” Trump said in response to the gift. “I want to thank you for that. That’s beautiful. Thank you very much. Fantastic. We’ll put it up in a place of honor.”
Trump had previously received a “golden pager” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a gold-plated samurai helmet from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The meeting between the two world leaders, held in front of reporters and officials, took an awkward turn when President Trump remarked to the conservative German chancellor that D-Day—when Allied forces invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944, to liberate Europe from Nazi rule—was “not a pleasant day” for his country.
The unusual remark was made while the pair were discussing the three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with the German leader forced to set the historical record straight, according to the New York Post.
“May I remind you that we are having June 6 tomorrow,” Merz said of the 81st anniversary of the landings during World War II. “This is D-Day anniversary, when Americans once ended a war in Europe.”
“In the long run, Mr. President, this was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship,” Merz said after Trump’s remark.
“And we know that we owe you, but this is the reason why I’m saying that America is again in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war. So let’s talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can,” the German leader said, moving back to the issue of resolving the Russia-Ukraine war.
WATCH:
Two weeks ago, as much-hyped Moscow-Kyiv talks in Turkey turned into a massive shambles, Trump declared that there would be no progress toward peace in Ukraine until he meets with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Look, nothing is gonna happen until Putin and I get together,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One en route to the United Arab Emirates. “And he wasn’t gonna go … He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there. And I don’t believe anything will happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together. But we are gonna have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was prepared to meet with Putin in Turkey for discussions, but Putin sent a lower-level team instead, which enraged Kyiv and cast doubt on the possibility of any conversations taking place.
A high-level delegation from Kyiv, including Zelenskyy, his senior advisor, and the foreign and defense ministers, hoped to demonstrate to Trump that Russia is the true peacemaker’s nemesis.
Attacks by both countries on each other have since escalated. Last week, Ukraine sent drone swarms against nearly a half-dozen Russian airbases, destroying as much as 30 percent of Moscow’s nuclear-capable bombers. On Thursday, Russia retaliated with a massive missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital.
“The Russian chair in Turkey is de facto empty. Because it makes little difference whether Mr. Nobody, sent by Putin, and his insignificant colleagues sit in their chairs or not. They are not the ones making decisions. And the person who does — Putin — is either afraid to come or does not take the U.S.-led peace effort seriously,” said a Ukrainian diplomatic official.
