German Chancellor Merkel's party and the US "friends" no more

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Germany's Christian Democrats will drop the word "friend" in describing their relationship with the United States, according to Chancellor Angela Merkel's new election manifesto.

The sudden change underscores the tense relations between Berlin and Trump's White House.

Germany Berlin Konrad Adenauer House Press Statement the CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer and the CDU Chairman Angela Merkel after the common Board meeting from CDU and CSU to Adoption the Government programme. /VCG Photo

The joint program of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), referred to the United States as Germany's "most important friend" outside of Europe four years ago

The 2013 program also described the "friendship" with Washington as a "cornerstone" of Germany's international relations and talked about strengthening transatlantic economic ties through the removal of trade barriers.

But the words "friend" and "friendship" are missing from the latest election program which Merkel and CSU leader Horst Seehofer presented on Monday, ahead of a September 24 election.

Instead, the United States is described as Germany's "most important partner" outside of Europe. CDU officials were not immediately available to comment on the wording change.

US President Donald Trump, speaks with Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., on Friday, March 17, 2017. /VCG Photo

During Donald Trump's campaign for the presidency, he said Merkel was "ruining" Germany with migration policies which he described as "insane".

He repeatedly denounced Germany's trade surplus with the United States, accused Berlin and other European partners of owing "massive amounts of money" to NATO, and unsettled western partners with his decision last month to pull out of the Paris climate accord..

A survey by the Pew Research Center last week showed just 35% of Germans have a favorable view of the US, down from 57% at the end of President Barack Obama's term.

The new CDU/CSU election program also repeats a line that Merkel used in a speech in Munich in late May after a difficult summit of G7 leaders, where Trump resisted pressure from six other nations to stay in the Paris agreement.

"The times in which we could fully rely on others are, to a certain extent, in the past. We Europeans must take our fate into our own hands more decisively than we have in the past," the program reads.

While affirming Germany's commitment to the NATO military alliance, the program said the European Union must be in a position to defend itself independently if it wants to survive in the long run.

Merkel is due to host Trump and other leaders at a G20 summit in Hamburg later this week.

(Source: Reuters)