Trump: ‘One of the best chemistries I had was with’ Merkel

by Rebecca Savransky - 04/23/17 4:57 PM ET

President Trump during an interview published Sunday said he had good chemistry with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Yeah, it’s funny: One of the best chemistries I had was with Merkel,” the president said during an interview with the Associated Press covering his first 100 days in office.

“And I guess somebody shouted out, ‘Shake her hand, shake her hand,’ you know. But I never heard it. But I had already shaken her hand four times. You know, because we were together for a long time.”

Trump was referring to an dustup that occurred when Merkel visited the White House last month, after Trump appeared to ignore Merkel’s proposal that they shake hands for photographers while meeting in the Oval Office.

{mosads}When pressed, Trump said he didn’t expect he would have good chemistry with the German chancellor.

“Because, um, I’m at odds on, you know, the NATO payments and I’m at odds on immigration,” he said.

“We had unbelievable chemistry. And people have given me credit for having great chemistry with all of the leaders, including [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi. … so it was a great thing to see that happen.”

The president also said during the interview he has a “really great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“For me to call him a currency manipulator and then say, ‘By the way, I’d like you to solve the North Korean problem,’ doesn’t work,” Trump said.

“So you have to have a certain flexibility.”

Tags