Merkel lashes out

Angela Merkel lashes out at Washington ahead of G20

US president shouldn’t expect any easy conversations in Hamburg next week, chancellor warns.

By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG

German Chancellor Angela Merkel lashed out on Thursday at the Trump administration ahead of next week’s G20 summit in Hamburg, suggesting Washington’s positions on trade and the environment were out of touch with an increasingly globalized world.

“Whoever believes that the world’s problems can be solved by isolationism and protectionism is mistaken,” Merkel said in a speech to the German parliament, arguing that multilateral cooperation was the only answer to the challenges on the G20’s agenda, such as terror and migration.

Though Merkel didn’t call out U.S. President Donald Trump by name, she singled out Washington for its decision to abandon the Paris climate accord. “One shouldn’t expect any easy conversations in Hamburg,” Merkel said, vowing to conduct the talks in a manner that would “serve the climate.”

“To gloss over the disagreement would be disingenuous,” she said.

Merkel’s speech to German lawmakers suggests Trump can expect a frosty reception from European leaders at the two-day Hamburg summit, which begins July 7.

In addition to the discord on climate, Washington has signaled it is considering imposing tariffs on European steel, a step that Berlin and others have warned would further strain transatlantic relations.