For better or worse, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s much-anticipated visit to the White House became a backdrop to the Trump-Musk meltdown.

President Donald Trump is meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House at 11:45 a.m. The meeting comes amid a July 9 deadline, in which the Trump administration has threatened to impose a 50% tariff on all imports from the European Union.

Merz's office said the new German leader, who took the helm of Europe's biggest economy on May 6, will meet Trump on Thursday — the first in-person meeting between the two.