"WE NEED RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP"

Trump also said that US trade relations with Germany, and the EU at large, were not "reciprocal".

Pointing out the US trade deficit with the EU -- 151 billion US dollars -- he said, "Also vital to our security, and that of our allies, is America's ability to maintain a strong and robust manufacturing base ...That's why we must have a fair and reciprocal trading relationship with our friends and partners."

The two sides also seemed to fail to reach an agreement over Trump's threat to largely increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Merkel said it is up to Trump to decide whether to exempt the EU from the tariffs before the May 1 deadline.

"The president obviously is not satisfied with the trade surplus. We have already been able to reduce that," she said. "Not only hundreds of thousands of cars are exported from Germany to the United States, but from the US to the rest of the world ... creating American jobs."

That too failed to sway Trump. Saying people in Germany and some other countries may not like him, he remarked, "That means I'm doing a good job because I'm representing the United States."