During his big trip abroad last month, Donald Trump capped off a trainwreck NATO meeting by calling Germans “bad, very bad,” because of all the cars they sell in the U.S., perhaps failing to recall that auto giants like Mercedes-Benz and B.M.W. actually produce many of their vehicles in the U.S. Later, after White House press secretary Sean Spicer tried to throw cold water on the notion that Trump and Angela Merkel were engaged in some kind of feud, the president doubled down on his comments, tweeting “We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change.” So you’ll have to forgive Merkel and Co. if, following Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s decision to cancel his trip to meet with German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries, the Trump adviser’s speech at an event hosted by the chancellor, delivered remote via video, was not well-received:

The U.S. commerce secretary was cut off in mid-speech during a video feed to an event hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, underscoring how German patience with attacks on the country’s trade surplus is fraying.

The part of Ross’s remarks that were shown involved “renewed criticism of Germany’s trade surplus with the U.S.,” according to Bloomberg, which reports that attendees at the Christian Democratic Union’s conference “laughed and clapped” when the secretary’s speech was cut short. “That was the U.S. secretary of commerce, who had promised us a 10-minute statement,” organizer Werner M. Bahlsen told the audience. “As you saw, he spoke a bit slowly, so it took a bit longer. Now we look forward to the chancellor’s speech.” In Merkel’s closing remarks, she reportedly “rejected [Ross’s] criticism of Germany’s surplus.”

Next week, the German Chancellor will host the G20 summit in Hamburg. If this incident is any indication, Trump can look forward to another timely mic cut.