Merz insists the US 'is and will remain Germany‘s most important partner'
He said the two nations were united in their opposition to Iranian nuclear weapons.
The German Chancellor has insisted his nation and the US are close partners and remain dedicated to denying Iran nuclear weapons.
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Friedrich Merz has played down any suggestion of a souring relationship between Berlin and Washington.
In a post on X on Sunday Merz said: "The United States is and will remain Germany‘s most important partner in the North Atlantic Alliance. We share a common goal: Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons."
His comments follow previous statements which sought to distance NATO and Germany from the Iran War.
In an interview with German Broadcaster ARD on Sunday, Merz also said he accepted that Trump did not share his views on Iran, and that the US still held a vital role in the NATO alliance.
“I have to accept that the American president has a different view on these issues than we do,” he said.
Read more: Trump pulls 5,000 troops from Germany as rift between US and Europe over Iran war widens
Merz was responding to questions about Germany's relations with the US, after President Trump announced on Saturday that America would withdraw over 5,000 troops from bases across Germany.
The move followed a public row between Merz and Trump last week, as Mertz criticised slow US-Iran negotiations, describing the situation as Washington being "humiliated" by Tehran and complaining the conflict was “costing us a great deal of money.”
Berlin also described the Iran War as "not NATO's war". Trump lashed out at Merz' comments, saying the Chancellor "thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon," and then announcing the pulling back of US troops from German military sites.
Germany hosts the largest US military presence in Europe, and American troops remain vital for NATO operations and planning.
Merz began cooling tensions with the US at a press conference on Wednesday. “The personal relationship between the American president and me remains, in my view, as good as ever,” he told reporters.
“We are still, to put it in American English, on good speaking terms," he added.