Merkel says nations must keep talking to Trump despite differences

French PM Emmanuel Macron said Germany and France agree on the importance of close ties with the United States.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it’s important to keep talking with President Donald Trump even where there are clear differences.

US President Donald Trump (R), French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) at the start of the first working session of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. (AFP)

Merkel said at a news conference Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron that last week’s G-20 summit showed common ground, for instance on fighting terrorism, but “we also had to name clear differences, for instance regrettably the difference on whether we need the Paris climate accord or not.”

She added: “We did not paper over these differences, but nevertheless contact, the ability to speak is of course important.”

Macron said Germany and France agree on the importance of close ties with the United States, despite the differences.

Trump is currently in Paris to mark Bastille Day and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the US entry into World War I.