Obama hosts Merkel for business, then pomp
WASHINGTON - President Obama plans the grandest of receptions for Angela Merkel on Tuesday, but weighty matters of war and economic turmoil will linger in the background for the German chancellor's visit.
In a White House meeting, the two leaders were expected to deal with a wide range of issues, including NATO operations in Afghanistan and Libya, the Middle East peace process, and the global economy.
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Later, Obama plans to treat Merkel to a night of high pomp at the White House, awarding her the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom during a formal dinner. The gestures appear aimed at boosting a relationship that has seemed more cordial than close.
Merkel's visit comes at a time she is suffering a loss of popularity amid problems with her coalition partner and a backlash from Germans upset about their country's large contribution to a European financial bailout of Greece. Her decision this month to abolish nuclear power by 2022, however, has given her a small boost in a country that has long had a strong anti-nuclear movement.
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Merkel also is in the midst of managing the response to an E. coli outbreak linked to raw vegetables that has killed at least 22 people and sickened more than 2,330 others across Europe, most of them in Germany, over the past month.
Obama also is facing a politically delicate time less than a year and a half before he goes before the voters to determine whether he deserves a second four-year term. His standing has been boosted by the killing of al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. commandos, but he faces serious challenges of a still-weak economy and lingering high unemployment.
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With both leaders coping with domestic vulnerability, Obama may be looking for a better understanding of how Merkel's problems at home are affecting her moves on the world stage. The two have had differences on Libya, for instance, after Germany abstained in the U.N. vote that authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and kept its troops out of the NATO-led operation to enforce it. But Germany has backed the U.S. by sending thousands of troops to Afghanistan.
"Washington is grappling with where Berlin is on some of these important issues," says Heather Conley, director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I think Merkel has an opportunity to place some of them in a broader strategic context."
The trip is Merkel's sixth visit to the U.S. since Obama took office in January 2009. The relationship between the two got off to an uneven start during Obama's campaign when she declined a request to let him speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate — a symbol of the Cold War famously used as a backdrop by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. A year later, he turned down her invitation to help mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Obama has visited Germany twice while in office, but has never made a formal visit to Berlin. Germany was not part of his recent four-country European tour, which local media suggested Merkel took as a snub. Her aides insist that was not the case.
Merkel has been to the Oval Office for meetings with Obama and the two meet often on the sidelines of international conferences. They also speak regularly by phone.
Obama is devoting an unusual degree of personal attention to Merkel's visit. His motorcade pulled up to Blair House, the government guest house across from the White House where the chancellor is staying, and whisked her to the city's Georgetown neighborhood Monday evening for dinner at an elegant restaurant modeled on a country inn. They emerged after about two hours.
Tuesday will start with a bang for Merkel — a 19-gun salute during a formal welcome on the White House South Lawn ahead of the meeting with Obama. Later Merkel will be honored with the most elegant evening the U.S. puts on for a foreign leader.
Though the trip will not be referred to as a state visit, because Merkel is the head of Germany's government, not its head of state, it will have almost all the trappings. The only difference is in the number of gun salutes: a head of state gets 21.
Regardless of what the visit is called, Merkel is in rarefied company. Visits like these, with the accompanying pomp and pageantry, are an honor the U.S. doles out sparingly to close friends and allies. Obama so far has extended similar courtesies only to the leaders of India, Mexico and China. She is the first European leader to receive this treatment from Obama. The White House said it is a sign of the close working relationship they have forged in two and a half years.
Merkel, 56, is not known for being flashy, but being welcomed to the White House in such elaborate style could help improve her image at home.
Obama awarded Merkel the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year but did not have an opportunity to present it to her. At the time, Obama spoke about Merkel's youth in communist East Germany and her dreams of freedom that were not realized until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Obama said her story was an inspiration to people around the world.
While the black-tie dinner has been in the works for months, the White House is keeping a tight lid on all aspects of the evening — from the menu and decor to first lady Michelle Obama's gown — until a few hours before guests start arriving. In this age of raging social media, the White House also frowns on guests tweeting excitedly about the dinner beforehand, as has happened in the past.
Among the few known details: Both the dinner and reception and entertainment will be held in the Rose Garden, a first for the Obamas. Workers were laying down carpet on the lawn Monday evening in preparation. Guests also are likely to dine on fresh lettuce and other produce from Mrs. Obama's garden.
It will be the first dinner under new White House social secretary Jeremy Bernard.
The last White House dinner for a German leader was held for Chancellor Helmut Kohl in February 1995.