President Donald Trump waves from Air Force One with First Lady Melania. Credit:AP Seibert also reaffirmed Germany's commitment to contribute 2 per cent of its gross domestic product to the alliance by 2024, as pledged during last year's NATO summit meeting. But that did not seem to be enough for Trump, who insisted on Twitter early Saturday that Germany owed the alliance "vast sums of money". "Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel," he wrote. "Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!" According to figures released by the alliance, Germany contributed 1.2 per cent of its gross domestic product in 2016, compared with 3.6 for the United States, but as security experts have pointed out, contributions to the alliance do not automatically translate into more money being sent to Washington.

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (left) visiting German soldiers at Camp Marmal in Mazar-i-Scharif, Afghanistan in December. Credit:AP The style of making one point and swiftly changing direction reminded some foreign policy experts of the way Trump acted on the campaign trail, when his position on certain issues could veer wildly from one day to the next. "Once again, we've seen Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," said Sylke Tempel, the editor-in-chief of Internationale Politik, published by the German Council on Foreign Relations, remarking on the approach that Trump took during the leaders' joint news conference on Friday. Visitors to the Trump White House will be kept secret. Credit:Bloomberg "He was Mr Jekyll while reading his statement, saying nice things about economic ties, his commitment to Ukraine, common friendship; all the niceties," Tempel said. "Then, in the question-and-answer session, he's his old self: disparaging the media, criticising the British."

Although memories of Merkel's warm relationship with former president Barack Obama remain fresh in the minds of many Germans, it took repeated meetings over several years before the chancellor reached that level with Obama. During a joint news conference in Dresden in June 2009, she displayed stiff body language and a chilly formality, months after she had denied Obama permission to speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate during the 2008 presidential campaign. In 2006, Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, sought to win her over with a playful shoulder rub, a move abruptly rebuffed by the pragmatic chancellor. One year later, however, at the summit meeting of the Group of 8 industrialised nations, she coaxed Bush to voice support for her vision of a global plan to combat climate change. Yet both of Trump's most recent predecessors followed diplomatic conventions and worked within the institutions established after World War II to foster communication and cooperation among nations. Trump's "America First" approach and his disparagement of global trade agreements have caused uncertainty among German politicians and industry leaders. Asked by a German journalist about this approach, the president insisted that while he was not against trade, the United States had been treated unfairly in global trade agreements. "But I am not an isolationist," he said. Less than 24 hours later, however, Trump's government refused to back a pledge to fully oppose trade protectionism at a meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, of the finance ministers of the Group of 20, which comprises industrial and emerging-market countries as well as the European Union. Participants last year had agreed to resist "all forms" of protectionism.

Germans have been both fascinated and horrified by Trump's willingness to ignore the strictures of diplomacy when dealing with foreign leaders. For example, he has castigated Merkel for allowing refugees to flow into Germany in 2015, and he has called into question post-World War II alliances, including NATO and the European Union. Germans have not been entirely sure what to make of him. "One thing we can depend upon, that we saw yesterday: Donald Trump says what he wants," Nikolaus Blome, deputy editor of Bild, wrote in its online edition. "He has predictable political interests. What he doesn't have is a predictable way to pursue them." German Defence Minister questioning the US president's understanding of NATO finances. Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday called the criticism "inaccurate," without mentioning the president by name. "NATO does not have a debt account," Ms Von der Leyen said in a statement released by her ministry.

In reality, NATO has only a small logistical budget, which relies on funding by all member states. The vast majority of NATO members' total resources are managed domestically. Ms Von der Leyen's response to Mr Trump's tweets – made less than 24 hours after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel – echoed other experts, including former US ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder. "Trump's comments misrepresent the way NATO functions," Mr Daalder told The Washington Post. "The president keeps saying that we need to be paid by the Europeans for the fact that we have troops in Europe or provide defence there, but that's not how it works." Ms Von der Leyen also indirectly criticised Mr Trump's plan to reduce funding for UN peacekeeping missions.

German defence expenditure was not exclusively dedicated to NATO missions, she emphasised, and additional German funding would be used for UN peacekeeping missions. "What we want is a fair burden-sharing, and in order to achieve that we need a modern understanding of security," she said. The rather unusual rebuke of Mr Trump by a German defence minister indicates growing concerns in Berlin over trans-Atlantic relations. Loading Tempel, of the German Council on Foreign Relations, said simply: "If this [meeting] was really about getting a first impression, you got your first impression."

New York Times, Washington Post