Its aftermath has been explosive.
Merkel, for instance, announced last spring that she wanted to increase Germany's annual defence budget by $27bn over the next three years. She said: 'The times when Europe could rely exclusively on others is somewhat in the past.
"We Europeans must fight for more climate protection, fewer weapons and against religious (fanaticism), otherwise the Middle East and Africa will be further destabilised".
Dr Merkel's remarks swiftly made headlines. During the transition and in the early weeks of the new administration, Trump's top aides worked to defuse some of the tension by assuring their foreign counterparts that US policy was not going to change much, if at all.
But she also finessed her message slightly on Monday, stressing that she was a "convinced trans-Atlanticist". Instead, Trump has allowed his penchant for aggressive tweets to part company with sensible economics. His performance in Europe was disastrous.
So that didn't take long. That, in turn, risks encouraging Russian Federation to test Nato's defences.
The frustrations began in Brussels when Trump renewed his attack on Germany's trade surplus and auto exports in a private meeting with European Union officials.
No. 1 Kerber upset in first round of French Open
Kuznetsova ousted American Christina McHale 7-5, 6-4, while Williams posted a 6-5, 7-6 (3) victory over China's Qiang Wang. Makarova nailed three games in a row into the second set, before Kerber broke in the fourth game in an unfamiliar manner.
Ms Merkel on Monday repeated nearly word for word her message from Sunday, when she told her Bavarian conservative allies in a packed Munich beer tent that "we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands". He also would not sign on to a statement committing the United States to honoring the Paris climate change agreement. Further offending Germany, he'll "stop" German vehicle sales because we import too many; Germans "are very, very bad".
But if Trump strengthened America's alliances in Europe, no one told America's European allies. Nonetheless, her speech was a blunder for at least five reasons. It's kept the peace in Europe for seven decades now. It may come to that. "The president is getting results and more countries are stepping up their burden-sharing". Mr Trump's behaviour in Europe was crass. May right now is trapped between a trifecta of political pressures: the mandate for Brexit established in last year's referendum, a British electorate taking a surprise second look at Labour in the general election she called, and European Union elites determined either to make the United Kingdom stay or pay. Late last week, he blasted Germany over its auto exports to the United States.
Spicer also credited Trump with changing North Atlantic Treaty Organisation attitudes in general.
Trump's failure to take that two-pronged approach is why so many Europeans are alarmed, said Charles Kupchan, who served as senior director for European affairs on the staff of the National Security Council in the Obama administration. Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, announced late past year that he would seek the Social Democratic Party's (SPD) nomination to challenge Merkel as chancellor.
That's a different sort of problem, says Sheri Berman, a professor at Barnard College. But the cheerful body language between the two leaders was hard to miss. The historical resonances should be chilling.
As a result, some have even proclaimed that the German Chancellor is now the true leader of the Western world.
But how far is Merkel really willing to go?
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