Politics
Europe Tries a Trumpian Tactic With Trump: No Apologies
In the days after he infuriated President Trump by criticizing America’s war in Iran, Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, professed affection for the United States. When the Pentagon abruptly said it would pull 5,000 troops from Germany, Mr. Merz and his aides projected calm.
What Mr. Merz did not do was apologize.
In refusing to back down, Mr. Merz was adopting what has by now become a widespread tactic among European leaders who have provoked Mr. Trump’s wrath during the war.
European leaders are struggling to influence the course of the conflict and to manage its economic and security consequences. They are venting those frustrations, with little remorse.
If that move seems familiar to Mr. Trump, it should be. It is one of his favorites.
The president has built and sustained a political brand, in part, on a don’t-back-down approach. The list of comments and actions he has been asked to apologize for, but has not, is lengthy and ever-growing.
It includes calling Senator John McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, “not a war hero”; a wide range of comments disparaging people from other countries, like Haiti and Somalia; and, most recently and still ongoing, a feud with Pope Leo XIV.
The pope has repeatedly criticized the war the United States and Israel are waging against Iran, without apology. Mr. Trump has sought to equate that criticism with a desire for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon — a charge he also leveled at Mr. Merz after his remarks this month that the United States had “no strategy” in Iran.
The Vatican has long opposed nuclear weapons, Pope Leo noted last week. “If someone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let him do so truthfully,” the pope told reporters.
Leaders across Europe similarly brushed off Mr. Trump when he reacted angrily to their criticisms of the war, their refusal to allow the United States full use of European military bases to launch attacks on Iran, and their unwillingness to meet his demands to send military force to open shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Keir Starmer, the domestically embattled British prime minister, told an interviewer last month that he was “fed up” with pressure from Mr. Trump over the war.
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, was once seen as a key European ally of the president but increasingly finds Mr. Trump to be a weight on her political fortunes at home. She called his criticism of Pope Leo “unacceptable.”
After a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, which appeared intended to smooth relations between the countries, Ms. Meloni did not back off the comment. She said she and Mr. Rubio had shared a “frank dialogue, between allies who defend their own national interests but who both know how precious Western unity is.”
Mr. Merz used similar language after his comments to a group of German high school students this month, in which he said Iranian negotiators had “humiliated” the United States. The comments appeared to spur the surprise Pentagon announcement that it would relocate 5,000 of the about 35,000 U.S. troops in Germany.
Pressed by an interviewer, Caren Miosga, on the German public television network ARD, soon after the troop withdrawal announcement, Mr. Merz acknowledged a rift with Mr. Trump over the comments but did not apologize for them.
“We have a different view of this war, that is no secret,” Mr. Merz said, when asked if he would make the same comments again about Mr. Trump and the war. “I am not alone in that.”
Domestically, Mr. Merz has faced almost no pressure to back off his criticism of Mr. Trump. The war remains unpopular in Germany and across Europe. It has pushed up gas prices. Its rising economic toll appears to have helped Germany’s three opposition parties in Parliament gain in the polls — the far-left Die Linke, the center-left Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
Still, some analysts say the chancellor could have chosen his words more carefully.
“You cannot humiliate this president or be seen to be doing that,” said Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, a political analyst in Berlin, who wrote a German book about Mr. Trump, “The American Wake-Up Call.”
Mr. Merz, she noted, criticized Mr. Trump with a German-language expression that is akin to saying that the Iranians played the president for a fool. “There is no other way that the White House would have read that,” she said.
In his television interview, Mr. Merz did not answer directly when asked if he would still phrase his criticism in the same way. He also suggested he could mend fences with the president.
“I am not giving up work on the trans-Atlantic relationship,” Mr. Merz said, “and I am not giving up cooperation with Donald Trump, either.”
Motoko Rich contributed reporting from Rome, and Michael D. Shear from London.
BEIJING — An extraordinary display of power and precision along Tiananmen Square greeted President Trump in Beijing on Thursday, kicking off a two-day summit with particularly high stakes for the Americans.
Trump’s meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, began at the Great Hall of the People moments after a welcome ceremony that seemed to impress the president, featuring a Chinese military honor guard and a greeting from excited schoolchildren. American flags waved as “The Star Spangled Banner” rang out on a smoggy day in the heart of the capital.
Children holding Chinese and U.S. flags rehearse before the welcome ceremony for President Trump.
(Maxim Shemetov / Associated Press)
Trump reflected on the stakes of his visit at the top of the meeting, telling Xi that the ceremony was an honor “like few I’ve seen before.”
“There are those who say it may be the biggest summit ever,” he said. “I have such respect for China, the job you’ve done.”
Both men struck a conciliatory tone, despite the agenda for the summit featuring some of the thorniest issues facing the two superpowers today, including the U.S. war in Iran, trade relations and the future of Taiwan.
“We’ve gotten along — when there have been difficulties, we’ve worked it out,” Trump added. “We’re going to have a fantastic future together.”
Trump is expected to ask Xi for help reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital commercial waterway disrupted by Iran since the start of the war, and for the extension of a truce in the trade war he started at the beginning of his second term.
China, in turn, will ask the Trump administration not to proceed with arms sales to Taiwan, despite their approval by Congress, and for a declaration of opposition to Taiwanese independence. Beijing also seeks access to top-end chips made by American manufacturers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump shake hands at the Great Hall of the People.
(Kenny Holston / Associated Press)
The agenda exposes the mutual dependence of the two rival superpowers, marked by distrust but driven by a quest for cooperation and stability.
The welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall kicked off with Xi shaking the hands of Trump’s delegation, including figures such as his political advisor, James Blair, his communications director, Steven Cheung, and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
They were just a few members of a U.S. delegation accompanying Trump filled with curiosities.
Chinese officials were surprised to learn that Pete Hegseth was joining Trump in Beijing this week, marking the first time a president has brought his secretary of Defense on an official state visit. It wasn’t immediately clear to the Chinese what his inclusion was meant to convey.
Eric Trump, the president’s son, is here, seeking to leverage the family name for lucrative business deals as Beijing aggressively campaigns against government corruption at home. And First Lady Melania Trump decided to stay at home, an unusual snub of such a high-level event.
A contingent of U.S. business leaders was given little notice to prepare for the trip, including the chief executive of Nvidia, who raced to join Trump aboard Air Force One at a refueling stop in Alaska.
The diplomatic faux pas follow weeks of Chinese frustration over what they see as the Trump administration’s lack of preparation — a perceived display of incompetence that boosts their confidence heading into the negotiations.
Over the course of the visit, Trump is expected to visit the Temple of Heaven, a monument to imperial China and Confucian thought in the center of Beijing. Ahead of Trump’s arrival, an area roughly the size of 400 American football fields was closed in preparation for a stop here.
On Thursday night, local time, Trump will return to the Great Hall of the People for a banquet dinner. Additional meetings are scheduled for Friday morning before Trump departs midday for home.
new video loaded: Trump Says He Does Not Think About Economic Hardships Linked to Iran War
transcript
transcript
Trump Says He Does Not Think About Economic Hardships Linked to Iran War
President Trump said on Tuesday that he did not think about the economic hardships Americans face from the war in Iran. Instead, he said that he was focused on preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.
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Reporter: “To what extent are Americans’ financial situations motivating you to make a deal?” “Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all. That’s the only thing that motivates me.” “Did you say earlier that the only thing that matters to you when it comes to Iran is a nuclear weapon? You’re not considering the financial impact of this war on Americans?” “The most important thing by far, including whether our stock market, which by the way is at an all-time high, but including whether or not our stock market goes up or down a little bit, the most important thing by far is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” “What about the pressure on Americans and prices right now?” “Every American understands.” “He is mixing it up on us a little bit here. That’s fine.” “And so when the President of the United States doesn’t think about Americans’ financial situation. And when the Republicans here are focused on other issues, this is what happens. Your prices go up.” “I don’t know the context in which he made that comment, but I can tell you the president thinks about Americans’ financial situations. I talk to him on average twice a day, sometimes three or four times a day. And we talk about it constantly.”
By McKinnon de Kuyper
May 13, 2026
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The billionaire timeshare magnate who abruptly cut ties with former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and kicked him out of his California mansion amid sexual misconduct allegations was arrested Tuesday.
Stephen Cloobeck, founder of Diamond Resorts International, turned himself in to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in West Hollywood on Tuesday following a warrant issued for his arrest. He is suspected of a felony charge of attempting to prevent or dissuade a victim or witness from testifying, the California Post reported.
The circumstances of the alleged crime remain unclear. He was released on $300,000 bail, according to jail records. Fox News Digital reached out to the sheriff’s department and to Cloobeck for comment.
BILLIONAIRE SUGAR DADDY KICKS SWALWELL OUT OF HIS MANSION, WANTS $1M BACK AFTER HEINOUS SEX ALLEGATIONS
Billionaire Stephen Cloobeck is pictured alongside then- Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. Cloobeck, who cut ties with Swalwell amid sexual assault allegations, was arrested Tuesday in California. (Getty Images)
“These charges are false, and we look forward to our day in court,” a spokesperson for Cloobeck told the newspaper.
Cloobeck, a former gubernatorial candidate, most recently supported Swalwell’s bid for California governor before cutting ties with him after sexual assault allegations and leaving the Democratic Party.
DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR ‘SMEAR’ OF FEMALE ACTIVIST ADVOCATING FOR SWALWELL’S ACCUSERS: ‘VERY BAD LOOK’
Stephen Cloobeck attends an election night watch party at a private residence in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
“I am no longer supporting Eric. F—ing tell everyone I’m a libertarian. F— you, Democratic Party. I’m a libertarian now,” Cloobeck told the Post at the time.
“I am now a Republican,” he added to Fox 11 LA.
Swalwell has denied the claims against him in a video filmed inside Cloobeck’s home. At the time, Cloobeck—who briefly ran for governor before dropping out and endorsing his former friend—said he kicked Swalwell out of his Beverly Hills mansion, stating that Swalwell “busted the trust” between them.
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“I am no longer associated with a man that takes advantage of women,” Cloobeck told reporters. “I support women’s rights.”
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