Merz presents Trump with personal gift for his 80th birthday at G7 summit

On Monday, Merz will then travel on to the G7 summit in Évian, where he will meet with Trump and the other heads of state and government of the group of economically strong Western democracies in the evening. At this meeting on Lake Geneva, the chancellor also wants to hand over his personal gift to the US president.

A letter for the birthday

Exactly what the gift consists of was not initially known. The initiative is seen as an attempt to revive the recently cooled relationship between the two government leaders. "The relationship between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Trump has recently cooled after Merz criticized the Iran war," reported the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

This year, Merz is visiting Washington for the third time since Trump took office. In March, during a visit to the US capital, he presented Trump with a replica of a friendship and trade treaty between the USA and Prussia from 1785. The historical document is considered one of the earliest bilateral agreements between the two countries.

From golf club to birth certificate

During his inaugural visit to Washington around a year ago, Merz had already brought the US president gifts: an engraved golf club and a copy of the birth certificate of Trump's grandfather from Germany. "An engraved golf club and a copy of the birth certificate of the grandfather from Germany the US president has already received from the chancellor," said sources close to the German government.

The birthday gesture is a politically sensitive signal. The background is that the personal relationship between the two men had noticeably cooled recently. Merz had publicly criticized the US-led Iran war, which caused clear displeasure in Washington. With the letter and the planned gift, the chancellor is now apparently trying to smooth the atmosphere ahead of the important summit meeting.

Relationship under scrutiny

A bilateral Merz-Trump meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit is considered likely by government circles, but has not yet been officially confirmed. Nevertheless, observers interpret the planned exchange of gestures as a sign that both sides are seeking direct contact and do not want to further burden German-American relations.

At the G7 summit in Évian, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and Canada are expected alongside the USA and Germany. According to current plans, the focus of the consultations will be on the state of the global economy, support for Ukraine, and questions of security and foreign policy. A possible encounter between Merz and Trump on the sidelines of the meeting could also be significant for Germany's positioning on these issues.

G7 summit in Évian

Neither the Federal Chancellery nor the White House has officially commented on the details of the planned gift so far. It also remains open whether Trump will respond in kind with a birthday gesture to Merz, who celebrated his 70th birthday in the same year. What is certain is that both sides want to use the G7 summit on Lake Geneva for direct exchange.

The symbolic gesture is part of a longer tradition of attentive gestures between the two government leaders. In earlier meetings, both Merz and Trump had emphasized the respective references to history, culture, and personal connections between Germany and the United States.