Has ‘America First’ Become ‘Trump First’? Germans Wonder One week after Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Trump she would not attend the Group of 7 meeting he wanted to host, he decided to withdraw 9,500 troops from her country. President Donald Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany during a NATO meeting last year in Britain. Credit... Al Drago for The New York Times By Katrin Bennhold June 6, 2020 BERLIN — When Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Trump last week that she would not attend the Group of 7 meeting he wanted to host in Washington this month, the call between the two leaders, normally respectful in tone, turned testy. Ms. Merkel cited the ongoing pandemic. Mr. Trump responded with a wide-ranging monologue about his frustrations with the Group of 7 and NATO and the World Health Organization. America was doing great, he said, even as citizens rioted in cities across the country. The pandemic wa