Merkel postpones trip to meet Trump due to winter storm

[BERLIN] German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was already on her way to the airport on Monday to fly to Washington for her first meeting with US President Donald Trump when he rang her to postpone the trip due to the approach of a winter storm.

The storm, which is expected to hit the northeastern United States, has prompted airlines to cancel thousands of flights and some mayors to order schools to close on Tuesday.

The White House said in a later statement the visit would be rescheduled to Friday.

Mrs Merkel continued to Berlin's Tegel airport after her 10-minute conversation with Mr Trump to personally inform reporters who were due to travel with her to Washington of the change of plan.

"The trip is cancelled. That is not a joke," Mrs Merkel told the dozen or more surprised reporters already seated on board the government's Airbus A340 plane.

Mrs Merkel had been due to meet Mr Trump for more than two hours on Tuesday, followed by a working lunch.

Top executives from three German companies, including engineering group Siemens and carmaker BMW, who had been due to travel with Mrs Merkel, would also participate in the postponed trip, officials said.

Mrs Merkel is no stranger to weather-related travel changes.

In 2010, she was stranded during a trip to the United States following the eruption of a volcano in Iceland and had to follow a circuitous route home via Portugal and Italy.

In 2012, France's newly elected Socialist President Francois Hollande was en route to meet Mrs Merkel, a conservative, but had to return to Paris after his plane was struck by lightning, an incident that helped break the ice in the relationship between the two leaders despite their political differences.

German government officials said the abrupt postponement of Mrs Merkel's trip to Washington could act in the same way for her and Mr Trump, providing an unexpected personal kickstart for discussions that will centre on complex and difficult issues, including trade issues, Russia, Nato and the Middle East.

REUTERS