Secretary of State John Kerry said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel showed great courage in her decision to accept refugees into the country. Kerry: Inappropriate for Trump to be 'stepping into' politics of other countries

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday it was “inappropriate” for Donald Trump to insert himself into the politics of foreign countries, referencing the president-elect’s recent criticism over German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy.

“I thought frankly it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the United States to be stepping into the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner,” Kerry said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, adding that he specifically disapproved of Trump's attack on Merkel’s policy of accepting scores of migrants into Germany during the ongoing Syrian civil war.


“I think we have to be very careful about suggesting that one of the strongest leaders in Europe and most important players with respect to where we are heading … made one mistake or another, I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be commenting on that,” Kerry said.

On Sunday, Trump spoke to European media outlets about NATO, the alliance he has frequently called “obsolete,” criticizing Germany for its decision to accept nearly 900,000 asylum seekers in 2015.

"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know, taking all of the people from wherever they come from,” he said in an interview with the German publication Bild.

"And nobody even knows where they come from. So I think she made a catastrophic mistake, very bad mistake.”

Disagreeing with Trump, Kerry added that Merkel showed great courage in her decision to accept refugees into the country.

“I think that she was extremely courageous. I don’t think it amounts to that characterization at all,” he said.