Prior to 2018 NATO Summit in Bruxelles, President Trump has been quoted to heavily criticize Merkel and her defense and immigration policies. According to Politico, he said that “So we’re protecting Germany, we’re protecting France, we’re protecting all of these countries. And then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline deal with Russia where they’re paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia,” Trump continued. “And I think that’s very inappropriate.”