GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:   German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be meeting the president tomorrow.  Trump has had a number of very successful meetings with foreign leaders since taking office.   He is reportedly very good in one-on-one situations.  Merkel might be a problem, though, as Germany has, in recent years, developed an inflated view of itself.  From Bloomberg: 

President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Germany’s Angela Merkel at the White House on Tuesday will test the power dynamic between the West’s two pre-eminent leaders, one struggling for credibility on the world stage while the other fights for political survival at home.

Some raised eyebrows here.  I really don't think Merkel qualifies as one of West's "two pre-eminent" leaders.  First, no one comes close to the president of the United States in pre-eminence.  Second, I'd put Britain's Theresa May ahead of Merkel, as Britain is far more symbolic of the West than is Germany.  Third, I'd also put Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Merkel, as he is vastly more creative. 

For months, Trump has accused Merkel of “ruining” Germany by accepting refugees and predicted voters would overthrow her, even while describing her as a great world leader. Merkel has reluctantly emerged as the main defender of the liberal global order that Trump has vowed to upend, as he unsettles European allies with protectionist threats, calls for higher defense spending and praise for the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union.

Trump clearly believes Merkel is behind the times.  And I think he's right, especially on the refugee issue.  Germany's culture is being changed by the refugee stream, and a nation doesn't have to die culturally to show kindness.  As we say in America, the Constitution is not a suicide pact. 

“This is one of the most important moments early in the Trump presidency,” carrying major ramifications for Trump’s relations with Europe and Russia’s ambitions, said Nicholas Burns, a Harvard professor and former U.S. undersecretary of state.

The two are stylistic opposites, the U.S. president a flamboyant former reality-television star who is guided by instinct and thrives on unpredictability, the German chancellor a physicist by training who’s known as methodical and persistent.

Oh please.  Trump, whether one likes him or not, as a vastly accomplished executive and negotiator.  Calling him a reality-television star is like calling Ronald Reagan a warmed-over movie actor.

Merkel, an 11-year veteran of global summitry sitting at the table with her third U.S. president, has prepared by poring over old comments and videos of the real estate magnate. She can quote interviews Trump has given from memory, according to a German official.

When Merkel hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a private dinner last month in Berlin, she quizzed him for details about his Trump visit days earlier, according to a Canadian government official. In her hunt for insights, Merkel was struck by a Playboy magazine interview Trump gave in 1990 where he said he’d only run for president if he saw the U.S. “continue to go down the tubes.”

“She’s the kind of person who can turn on the persuasion in a one-on-one talk,” said Juergen Hardt, the German government’s coordinator for trans-Atlantic relations. “Her tone with Trump will be friendly.”

COMMENT:  The key point for Merkel is to be sure not to turn Trump into an enemy.  She should treat him with the respect due a man who convinced the American people to give him the presidency.  She will find him a sound and informed negotiator, and it will be clear who the leader of the Free World is.

March 13, 2017