A memoir written by a former American president, looking back at the first weeks of his term, has brought a private judgment into public view: that Angela Merkel, speaking frankly about her predecessor, found Donald Trump volatile and was puzzled by his admiration for Vladimir Putin and other strongmen. The episode belongs to a longer story of an Atlantic partnership strained by trade quarrels, climate and nuclear diplomacy, and the question of how much Europe could still lean on America. Read against what came later, when Russian forces moved against Ukraine, the chancellor's bafflement reads
In New Memoir, Biden Recounts Merkel's Private Frustrations With Trump and His Fascination With Putin
A mystery I could not unravel
Mark
Why does a few lines about Merkel matter in a memoir this broad?
Mimi
Because it's a private account of a public rift. We saw the handshake that wasn't, but Biden says Merkel spoke openly about it and about Trump's apparent fascination with Putin.
Luke
Worth saying plainly: this is Biden's recollection of private conversations. Merkel hasn't confirmed it, and Newsweek is still waiting on a response from her and the White House.
Mark
Does anything on the public record support her frustration?
Mimi
A good deal. Her 2024 memoir describes the relationship as a competition, and there were open disputes over NATO spending, tariffs, Nord Stream 2, the Paris accord and the Iran deal.
Luke
Those disputes are documented. The "emotional" and "mood swings" characterization is only in Biden's retelling, and the source doesn't say Merkel used those exact words beyond the quoted "emotional."
Mark
Why does the Putin question stand out?
Mimi
Because of what came next. Biden says he had trouble convincing allies in 2021 that Putin meant to invade all of Ukraine.
Luke
Right, but we only have excerpts and a summary. How he describes his own persuasion efforts is his account, and we haven't seen the full book.
Mark
So what should readers watch for?
Mimi
The November 17 release, and whether Merkel or the White House responds.
The Pulse
- A former president's forthcoming memoir has put a chancellor's blunt private words about his successor into the open, stirring fresh friction across the Atlantic.
- Years of clashes over NATO spending, tariffs, the Paris climate accord, the Iran deal and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline have left transatlantic trust frayed and openly questioned.
- Biden is presenting his early talks with Merkel as part of an effort to rebuild allied confidence after four years of 'America First' diplomacy.
- The book's account of 2021 Russian military buildup and the Afghanistan collapse adds weight to old tensions, with its release set for November 17.
- Newsweek is still waiting on responses from Merkel and the White House, so the reactions that will shape the story have yet to arrive.
A memoir written by a former American president, looking back at the first weeks of his term, has brought a private judgment into public view: that Angela Merkel, speaking frankly about her predecessor, found Donald Trump volatile and was puzzled by his admiration for Vladimir Putin and other strongmen. The episode belongs to a longer story of an Atlantic partnership strained by trade quarrels, climate and nuclear diplomacy, and the question of how much Europe could still lean on America. Read against what came later, when Russian forces moved against Ukraine, the chancellor's bafflement reads less like gossip and more like an early unease that the alliance would soon have to confront.
In January 2021, in the first weeks of his presidency, Joe Biden spoke often with Angela Merkel, and in his memoir Promise Me, America he recalls that the German chancellor spoke with unusual candor about the man who had just left the White House. According to excerpts shared with Newsweek, Merkel called Donald Trump 'emotional,' suggested his moods drove him more than facts did, and noted that he had refused to shake her hand. She wondered, Biden writes, why Trump seemed so drawn to Vladimir Putin and to other leaders with autocratic streaks. Biden admits he never fully solved that puzzle.
The handshake had already become a small public moment. At Merkel's first Oval Office visit in 2017, Trump sat with his hands clasped while cameras waited, ignoring her quiet question about whether he wanted to shake hands. Merkel later described approaching him as though he were 'someone completely normal,' and called their dealings a contest of 'you or me.'
Beneath the personal friction lay real disputes. Trump pressed Germany on defense spending, threatened tariffs on its cars, and attacked the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a dangerous tie to Russian gas. Merkel resisted his withdrawal from the Paris accord and the Iran deal, and after a tense G7 summit in 2017 she said Europe could no longer count fully on others. Biden frames his own outreach as a repair job, reassuring allies that America would return to multilateral engagement. Merkel, by then nearing the end of her long chancellorship, stood at the center of European debates about the alliance's future.
Her doubts about Putin carry a sharper edge in light of events. Biden writes that intelligence showed alarming Russian movements through 2021, and that he struggled to convince allies Putin meant to seize all of Ukraine, not just the Donbas. He describes sharing reports of a planned Kyiv coup and a staged propaganda video, sending CIA Director Bill Burns to Moscow, and confronting Putin by phone in December. The book also turns to Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Biden first doubted but later praised, though he describes him as at times 'moody and stubborn.' On Afghanistan, Biden recounts assurances that the Kabul government would hold for months, a collapse within days, and the grief of families at Dover after the Abbey Gate bombing. The memoir goes on sale November 17.
In the opening weeks of his presidency in January 2021, Joe Biden had a series of early conversations with Angela Merkel, and in his forthcoming memoir he says the German chancellor spoke frankly about the man who had just left the White House. According to excerpts shared with Newsweek from Promise Me, America, Merkel described Donald Trump as "emotional" and told Biden he seemed driven by mood swings rather than facts. She also said he had refused to shake her hand.
Biden writes that Merkel wondered why Trump was "fascinated" by Vladimir Putin and by other politicians "with autocratic and dictatorial traits." His own verdict on the question is brief: it was, he says, a mystery he could not unravel. Newsweek has asked Merkel and the White House for comment.
The handshake Biden mentions has a public history. In March 2017, during Merkel's first visit to the Oval Office, photographers captured the two leaders seated side by side as they were repeatedly urged to shake hands. Merkel turned to Trump and quietly asked whether he wanted a handshake. Trump did not answer. He stayed seated, hands clasped, while the cameras kept firing.
Merkel later wrote about the relationship herself. In her 2024 memoir, Freedom, she said she had first approached Trump as though he were "someone completely normal," and that their dealings felt like "a competition: you or me."
The friction went well beyond personal manner. Trump repeatedly criticized Germany for missing NATO's defense-spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product, accused Berlin of not carrying its share, and threatened to reconsider American commitment to the alliance. He threatened tariffs on German auto exports and attacked Germany's backing of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, arguing it made Berlin too dependent on Russian energy. Merkel, for her part, opposed his decisions to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord and the Iran nuclear deal. After a contentious G7 summit in Sicily in 2017, she said the times when Europe could completely depend on others were, to a certain extent, over.
Biden presents his talks with Merkel as part of a wider effort to restore allied confidence after four years of Trump's "America First" foreign policy. He writes that he worked to reassure European leaders that Washington would again engage with international institutions and traditional partners. Merkel, chancellor since 2005, was nearing the end of a 16-year tenure and had become a central figure in European debates over the future of the Western alliance.
Her puzzlement over Putin carries added weight given what followed. Biden writes that U.S. intelligence tracked worrying Russian military movements around Ukraine throughout 2021, months before the full-scale invasion in February 2022. He says he initially struggled to persuade European allies, NATO members and Ukrainian officials that Putin intended to invade the whole country rather than mount a narrower operation in the Donbas. He eventually shared intelligence about a Russian plan for a coup in Kyiv, including preparations for a propaganda video he likens to a "Hollywood production," meant to manufacture a pretext for invasion. He also describes sending CIA Director Bill Burns to Moscow in November 2021 and confronting Putin directly in a December 7 phone call.
The book is not limited to Merkel. Biden writes that he initially doubted whether Volodymyr Zelensky had the experience and resilience for a full-scale war. He ultimately praises the Ukrainian leader's wartime leadership, but calls him at times "moody and stubborn" and "not as grateful as I would have expected" as he pressed for more weapons and money. On Afghanistan, Biden says military and intelligence leaders assured him the government and capital would hold for at least six months after U.S. troops left; instead the assessment collapsed within days, as the Taliban advanced and President Ashraf Ghani fled. He also recalls meeting grieving families at Dover Air Force Base after the Abbey Gate bombing killed 13 American service members, and acknowledges that some blame him and several will never forgive him.
Promise Me, America, published by Little, Brown and Company, goes on sale Tuesday, November 17.
Notable Quotes
She also wondered why he was 'fascinated' by Vladimir Putin and other politicians 'with autocratic and dictatorial traits.' That was a mystery I could not unravel.— Joe Biden, Promise Me, America
The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over.— Angela Merkel, after the 2017 G7 summit in Sicily
Want the full story?
Read the original at Newsweek ↗