U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz bonded during an amicable White House meeting on Thursday with talks about Ukraine, trade and troops, but none of the fireworks that characterized other Oval Office visits by foreign leaders.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO.

Trump’s wild comment about Germany’s defeat in World War II betrays a weak understanding of world history, framing the Nazis as simply a German political party and not a genocidal regime responsible for the murder of six million Jewish people, and millions of others.