Trump slams Germany’s Merz for criticism of Iran war

U.S. President Donald Trump criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war in Iran on Tuesday, a day after Merz said the Iranians were humiliating the United States in talks to end it. “The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, mischaracterizing Merz’s position. Merz has said Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. 
Merz said on Monday that Iran’s leadership was humiliating the United States and getting U.S. officials to travel to Pakistan and then leave without results, in an unusually pointed rebuke over the conflict. Merz also said he did not see what exit ​strategy the U.S. was pursuing in the Iran war – comments that underlined deep divisions between Washington and its European NATO allies, which ​had already been festering over Ukraine and other issues.
“The Americans obviously have no strategy. And the problem with such conflicts is always that you not only have to get in, you also have to get out again,” Merz said. He reiterated that Germans and Europeans were not consulted before the US and Israel started attacking Iran on February 28, and that he had conveyed his skepticism directly to Trump afterwards.He added that the conflict was costing Germany “a lot of money, a lot of taxpayers’ money and a lot of economic strength.”
Merz on Wednesday reiterated doubts over Iran war, says relationship with US President Trump is still good: 'The personal relationship between the US president and myself remains, in my view, unchanged and good.' 'I have, however, had doubts from the very beginning about what was initiated with the war in Iran, and that is why I have expressed this' 'We in Germany and Europe are suffering considerably from the consequences, for example, of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz', he said and added that 'This has a direct impact on our energy supply and a massive impact on our economic performance.'