Germany's Merkel To Meet Trump In Washington On March 14

Since speaking with Donald Trump by telephone in January after his inauguration, Angela Merkel has spoken out strongly in favor of policies that he has criticized.

Officials in Berlin say Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to have her first face-to-face talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on March 14.

The talks will follow a testy start to their relations.

Since speaking with Trump by telephone in January after his inauguration, Merkel has spoken out strongly in favor of policies that Trump has criticized.

She countered Trump's remarks about NATO being an "obsolete" alliance by saying at the Munich Security Conference in February that "the challenges of our world today are not to be managed by any individual state."

Merkel has spoken out in favor of a multilateral trade agenda that Trump has questioned.

She has also said that "close cooperation" between Washington and Europe should be based on "shared values" -- including democracy and freedom, and respect for the rights and dignity of every individual.

During the U.S. presidential election campaign of 2016, Trump had called Merkel's open-door refugee policy "insane."

Based on reporting by Bloomberg and dpa