Washington officials had been due to meet the German Chancellor and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in the German capital but pulled the plug at the last minute. The decision by one of Donald Trump’s closest members of his administration, has caused relations between the world superpowers to fall to a “historical low”. Eva Quadbeck, editor of German newspaper Rheinische Post, has suggested a more sinister reason for yesterday’s cancellation rather than the “international security issues” cited by US officials.
The political expert claimed it is because Donald Trump and Angela Merkel “simply can not stand each other”.
Ms Quadbeck wrote in her column: “The suddenly cancelled visit of the US Secretary of State in Berlin casts a spotlight on the miserable relations of the once so closely allied nations.
“Donald Trump and Angela Merkel simply can not stand each other.
“With the sudden refusal of the American foreign minister to attend the meeting the German-American relationship have reached a historical low.”
Ms Quadbeck also said relations between the US and Germany have deteriorated to the extent that some German citizens now believe the US president is more dangerous than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She added: “Even under Trump, America is still much closer to our values of freedom and democracy than authoritarian Russia. But while the common goals and values were once taken for granted, today they are facing each other with lots of question marks.
“The fact that the majority of Germans considers Trump more dangerous than Putin is a miscalculation, but illustrates that the mood in public opinion towards Trump’s America is even worse than in the political leadership.”
Instead of travelling to Berlin, Mr Pompeo made a surprise visit to Iraq and sought to improve relations with the war-torn nation.
The US secretary of state told Baghdad, the US opposes other states “interfering in their country” and stands ready “to ensure that Iraq is a sovereign, independent nation”.
Last year, Mr Trump strained relations further with Germany and the rest of Europe , after the US unilaterally pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, but the UK and other European powers have refused to follow his lead.
Tensions have escalated in recent days as Washington deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Gulf.
Mr Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said the move sent “a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interest or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force”.
(Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg)