Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) presented another guest gift to U.S. President Donald Trump during his recent visit to the White House. On Tuesday, Merz handed Trump a facsimile of the 1785 “Preußen‑Vertrag” a friendship and trade treaty signed between the young United States and Prussia. The gesture serves as a clear reminder that trade relations with Germany and Europe should not be overloaded with tariffs. The treaty, of course, was concluded on the German side by Frederick the Great.
During Merz’s first visit to the White House as chancellor, he had already given the president a framed facsimile: the German birth certificate of Trump’s grandfather, who, like the chancellor, was also named Friedrich.
