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Merkel’s Successor Caught Out by Another Attack From Trump

Merkel’s Successor Caught Out by Another Attack From Trump

(Bloomberg) -- Angela Merkel’s successor as leader of Germany’s ruling party is struggling to work out where she stands.

As part of her effort to differentiate herself from the chancellor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer sent a conciliatory message to Donald Trump on Wednesday, who has clashed with the U.S. president on issues from trade to defense spending and climate change.

Hours later Trump threatened Merkel’s government with sanctions. AKK, as she’s known in Germany, was forced to change tack.

It’s not fair to mention the U.S. president "in the same breath" as Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AKK said in a speech in Berlin earlier in the day. In the U.S., journalists can work without impairment, she argued, whereas in Russia and Turkey reporters are subjected to "show trials."

Hours later she changed course.

"I personally see a lot you could criticize with this U.S. president", she said in a speech later the same night, after Trump’s threat of sanctions.

It’s the latest in a series of gaffes that have troubled AKK and raised questions over her ability to succeed Merkel. The chancellor’s one-time protege has seen her party fizzle in opinion polls, unsuccessfully tried to accelerate the chancellor’s exit, and caused a public uproar with her call to regulate the Internet.

--With assistance from Iain Rogers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt

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