Tom Mihalek | Reuters
A demonstrator holds a sign to protest against President Donald Trump’s executive order banning refugees and immigrants from seven primarily Muslim countries during a rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 4, 2017.
Merkel signaled openness to changing Germany’s open-door policy should the German people signal that desire, but made clear her personal stance on the issue was not to discriminate.
Still, the German chancellor has remained at odds with Trump over his own prescriptions to curb the flow of refugees into the United States.
Speaking by phone with the president in the immediately after Trump signed the first version of his travel ban, Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the German leader “explained” refugee convention requirements, among them that the international community take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds.
“She is convinced that the necessary, decisive battle against terrorism does not justify a general suspicion against people of a certain origin or a certain religion,” Seibert said in a statement.
A White House readout of the same call made no mention of the immigration ban being discussed. On Friday, a White House official said he expects the issue to come up but that the two leaders have already spoken on the phone and at this point, it’s a question of how to “move forward” on the issue.
With few tangible policies to expect deliverance on, the truest measure of the meeting will likely come at Tuesday’s joint press conference.
It is the fourth time Trump has fielded questions side by side with a world leader — the United Kingdom’s Theresa May, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, and Japan’s Shinzo Abe have all joined Trump for press conferences since his White House tenure began.
