On April 27, 2026, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said publicly that the United States is being 'humiliated' by Iran in the negotiations to end the war Trump launched on February 28. Bloomberg first reported the remarks; ABC News, Al Arabiya, the Washington Examiner, and Newsmax all carried them.
Merz characterized Iran's negotiating posture as 'very skilfully — or indeed very skilfully not negotiating.' On U.S. strategy, he said: 'I don't see what strategic exit the Americans are now choosing.' He pointed to the pattern of U.S. envoys traveling to Pakistan and leaving without results — a direct reference to Trump's April 25 cancellation of the Witkoff-Kushner trip to Islamabad over an 18-hour flight.
The statement is unusually blunt for a German chancellor about an active U.S. military operation. Germany is among the United States' closest NATO allies and Berlin's relationship with Washington has historically been managed in much more careful diplomatic language. The shift reflects the cumulative effect of the Iran war's documented record this month: the WSJ pilot rescue exclusion, the NYT stockpile-depletion reporting, the Estonia HIMARS delay, the leaked Pentagon memorandum proposing to suspend Spain from NATO and review Falklands sovereignty, the NBC war-damage cover-up, and the canceled Islamabad trip.
The ceasefire announced April 21 is technically still in effect, but Merz's assessment lines up with reporting from PBS NewsHour and Al Jazeera that diplomatic momentum has stalled. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, traveled to Pakistan and Russia after the canceled U.S. visit. Iranian officials have said they will negotiate only with VP JD Vance going forward, citing his pre-war opposition to Middle East intervention.