German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has none of President Trump’s penchant for controversy or headline-grabbing language — but these days, he’s putting emphatic distance between Berlin and Washington all the same.
Merz is not only declining to answer Trump’s call for help in reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz. He is being scathing of the president’s decision to wage war on Iran in the first place.
“To this day, there is no convincing plan for how this operation could succeed,” Merz told German legislators on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
“Washington has not consulted us and did not say European assistance was necessary. … We would have advised against pursuing this course of action as it has been pursued.”
Trump’s call for help has found few takers elsewhere.
French President Emmanuel Macron said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that his nation would “never take part” in efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz while the current conflict rages.