First the UK, now Germany. US President Donald Trump has now dragged two foreign allies into his unsubstantiated allegations of being wire-tapped after he tried to make common cause with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at their joint news conference on Friday. “As far as wiretapping, I guess by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps,” Trump said, referring reports that the National Security Agency had tapped Merkel in 2010, during President Barack Obama’s first term. Trump meant it as a joke, of course, but Merkel showed only the slightest response, unwilling perhaps to be drawn into the unseemly controversy caused by the president’s allegation that he has not backed up with evidence yet. “Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel,” Trump said in a tweet on Saturday morning, pushing back against criticism of his remarks.

Source: Hindustan Times March 18, 2017 15:00 UTC