BERLIN — Olaf Scholz took over as Germany’s finance minister in March. Since then, President Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on German cars, called Europe a “foe” and dispatched an ambassador to Berlin who takes selfies with far-right politicians eager to bring down the German government.

But in an interview in his sparsely decorated fourth-floor office in the finance ministry, once the headquarters of the Nazi Luftwaffe, Mr. Scholz professed to be “relaxed.”

There is nothing like a bit of venom from the White House to unite Europe’s “progressive liberal center,” says the man who is Chancellor Angela Merkel’s No. 2.

“Europe won’t be pushed around,” Mr. Scholz said, smiling serenely. “The present U.S. administration, if you will, has become a catalyst for an ever-closer European integration process.”