German chancellor Angela Merkel’s first visit to the White House since the revelation that her calls were bugged by the National Security Agency was never going to be easy.

But Merkel could not have known how quite how awkward her appearance with US president Barack Obama would be. And no one could have anticipated the unfortunate role that, once again, American technology would play in Merkel's public humiliation.

Appearances in the White House’s Rose Garden have as much to do with political theatre as substance, and the stage was set for fresh start.



Obama and Merkel were late emerging from the Oval Office, leaving their audience basking in a garden filled with sunshine and birdsong. Spring was in the air. After a long, cold winter, a new relationship was supposed to be blossoming.



But as soon as the event began, it was evident that Merkel, who rarely speaks English in public, was placed at a considerable disadvantage by White House headphones provided to reporters – and the world leaders – for simultaneous translation.



Obama’s remarks were clear. But when Merkel spoke, she was barely audible over a suspicious, crackling noise. Bemused reporters tapped their headsets, wondering aloud if they were listening to something they shouldn’t.



The truth is there was very little the German chancellery wanted the press to hear. Berlin had been delaying Merkel’s visit to Washington for months, saying she would not come until trust was restored and demanding the two countries agree a mutual “no-spy agreement”. Merkel also wanted to discover what, exactly, was in her personal NSA file.



Both requests were rebuffed. Instead, Merkel will return home with something called a “cyber dialogue”. In other words: the US won't budge an inch, but has agreed to keep talking.



It has been known for weeks that the US balked at Germany’s demand for a no-spy agreement, in part because of the precedent it would set for other countries that might also ask not to be spied on, and in part because Germany, which has limited spy capabilities, had nothing to offer in trade.



The White House did seek to avoid total humiliation of the German chancellor by announcing, on the eve of her visit, a policy to extend US data provisions to non-Americans.



Yet the announcement was insufficient to warm a joint public appearance that was cold from the start. Obama looked stiff when he turned toward Merkel to label her one of his “closest friends on the world stage”. Merkel smiled awkwardly and thanked Obama for his hospitality.



Unfortunately for both, that was the lightest moment in a 45-minute press conference which felt, at best, frosty. The event was dominated by the situation in Ukraine, with both leaders determined to portray a united front against Russian president Vladimir Putin.



It was not until 30 minutes in that one of the handful of reporters called on to ask questions broached the subject of the disclosures by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.



Barely audible through the fuzz and clicking, Merkel spent less than a minute on the subject, saying something about “differences of opinion” in the medium and short term.

German parliamentarians and US members of Congress might want to get together to share their views, she added, before making a half-hearted attempt to portray Obama's promise of a “cyber dialogue” as an achievement.

Sensing the awkwardness, Obama stepped in. “It has pained me to see the degree to which the Snowden disclosures have created strains in the relationship,” he said. Looking briefly at Merkel, he added: "She should not doubt, and the German people should not doubt, how seriously we take these issues."

It is unclear whether Obama's promise will extinguish Merkel's doubts on that very subject – or those of her sceptical public. But what the US president said next did strain credulity, if Merkel's stone-cold face was any indication.

“I know that the perceptions among the public sometimes are that, you know, the United States has capacities similar to what you see on movies and in – in television,” the president said. “Ordinary Germans are not subject to continual surveillance, are not subject to a whole range of bulk data gathering.”

A second journalist stood up and pressed harder, asking Obama what assurances he could give Merkel, as well as the other German government ministers sitting in his garden, that they were no longer under US surveillance.

Obama didn’t answer the question, instead claiming – contrary to the evidence contained in Snowden’s disclosures – that intelligence agencies treat Germany broadly the same as Canada and the UK.

The last line was left to Merkel. Over crackling audio, the press corps heard a translation of the German chancellor repeating the importance of the “cyber dialogue”, before a final, muffled line about “difficulties yet to overcome”.

