It will only be a flying visit for Friedrich Merz, and yet the biggest test of his still short time in office: on Thursday morning (local time), the Chancellor will meet Donald Trump at the White House; around one and a half hours are planned for the bilateral talks and a joint lunch with POTUS. Afterwards, Trump and Merz will meet journalists in the Oval Office, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and South African head of state Cyril Ramaphosa had to endure difficult minutes.