this is "dw news," live from berlin. it is give and take as angela merkel and donald trump hold a news conference in washington. donald trump reaffirming his commitment to nato and merkel promising to spend more money on defense. other issues as well, from international trade to differing political styles, we will have in-depth analysis on everything that is happening. ♪

anchor: my name is christopher --, good to have you with us. the u.s. president hosting the german chancellor angela merkel in washington. it has been the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders, a great deal at stake. donald trump talking about germany's health in afghanistan -- help in afghanistan and talking favorably about nato, which he slammed during his campaign. and angela merkel insisting on the importance of a strong european union come another area where donald trump has been critical. reporter: the first handshake between the u.s. president donald trump and german chancellor angela merkel delivered the friendly symbolism that was widely expected. the agreement on defense and security, but especially on trade. donald trump pledging to put america first, and he wants to reduce the gaping trade deficit.

he feels his country has come second in the past. donald trump: i would say negotiators for germany have done a far better job than negotiators for the united states. hopefully we can even it out. we want fairness, all i want is fairness. reporter: and angela merkel saying the past to trade agreements as proof that they can deliver that, offering a positive assessment of the talks. she left no doubt that there will be no deals with germany that leave out the eu partners. >> germany's successes in terms of the economy and security are always successes where one side of the coin is germany's success and the other side is that of european union he -- unity. but the first meeting between the most powerful man in the world and the leader of europe's most -- largest economy, also saw some strange moments.

she did not react when asked to shake hands once more. donald trump remaining silent and then the media left the room. it was an awkward misunderstanding, at worst a refusal to communicate. both would be bad for the two allies who clearly signal they want to work with each other. anchor: ok. for more on this first meeting between donald trump and angela merkel we have our political correspondent simon young, and the editor of national interest magazine in washington. what are you hearing in washington about the mood so far on this meeting? the two leaders, some people would say on opposing ends of the political scale, certainly in terms of style. how were you reading the body language between the two of them? >> i think in the weather terms,

it has gone from stormy to overcast. while there was no declaration of love or -- as they say in germany, the two leaders seemed to have agreement on the importance of nato and angela merkel emphasizing the need for a peaceful solution in ukraine, which is something that donald trump himself stressed during the primaries. so i think, and there is talk about -- angela merkel wanted to stress the importance of german business activity in the u.s., so for the chancellor it was a plus, and for donald trump it was something of a wash. christopher: jacob, what are the significant areas of policy were the common ground appears to be developing between them in washington? jacob: it was probably premature to say, ground, but i do think that the ephesus, donald trump's

emphasis on the importance of nato and what it amounted to, the luster about the 2% of gdp. angela merkel made it clear that germany is contributed more and i think that donald trump in essence is conceding ground. the rhetoric we are hearing from him and his administration about europe is different than it has been in previous weeks, especially during the campaign. also another victory for angela merkel, the outcome of the dutch elections. the fantasy that some advisors entertained with the european union going to crack up is something that angela merkel emphasized that is something not in the cards. christopher: stay with us. i want to get the german perspective as well. simon, jacob saying in terms of weather it has gone from being a

storm to overcast. do you think german politicians watching the press conference between angela merkel and donald trump, do they see the skies clearing soon? simon: yes, perhaps not but what we do not want is the storm that was mentioned. and in that sense the press conference at least to judge from that, it seems to have gone . according to plan -- gone according to plan. there have been no flaring disagreements among no flashing of teeth from donald trump that i could detect. angela merkel was her usual calm and a sober self. the two leaders saying a lot of 19 -- nice things about each other. donald trump talking about germany's sacrifice and afghanistan, thanking her for her leadership on ukraine and so on. and angela merkel saying they always look to america for

partnership, so the mood music is right, but of course you can see this relationship is nothing like it was between angela merkel and barack obama. as for -- christopher: where do you see the remaining areas of disagreement? simon: angela merkel said we are two different people and we have very different origins and ideas, and in spite of that we will speak about our differences, we will tell each other, that is what we have been doing today, she said. and it can be difficult to have negotiations, that is what politicians are for, she said. so you heard donald trump saying immigration is a privilege, not a right. sort of a job - - jab to angela merkel's open-door policy. angela merkel saying trade and security are always not just

german issues, they are european issues as far as she is concerned. the multilateralism and institutions based ideas for the eu, all of that is -- for donald trump. christopher: back to jacob, from your standpoint and where you are in washington, what were the areas of major disagreement that you are able to detect between the two leaders? jacob: well, i think on the numerous level the biggest one was over the -- humorous level the biggest one was over the wiretapping or donald trump joked they have that in common. the biggest disagreement is over the european union. the donald trump administration, particularly trump's principal advisor steve bannon has been pushing the line that the united states should negotiate

bilateral economic deals with european countries. and in essence, donald trump has been dissing angela merkel in reaching out to people like nigel farage and supporting other far right movements or leaders in europe. donald trump made his disdain for the european union palpable. and the message today was it is not going away and he will not be able to pick off european countries one after the other. germany will not cut a separate deal, you need to deal with europe, not just germany. anchor: ok. christopher: thank you for that. and also to simon in the studio. plenty of reaction of course, the first meeting between angela merkel and donald trump on social media.

washington-based journalist alice paul stein -- alstein writing this freudian slip from donald trump. and another journalist, jim roberts writing that angela merkel must love listening to donald trump talk about obamacare and domestic politics and his beefs with the media. and alex george writing in summary, reporters asking angela merkel important questions about trade and asking donald trump if he regrets his ridiculous tweets. everything is fine. and alex posting this picture of the two leaders meeting, the tweet, the woman destroying the west with the man who wants to save it. two other news, the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson says his country is ready to take a tougher stance on north korea and it could include military action.

he is on his first official trip to asia and he visited the border between the two koreas, greeting troops. and north korean soldiers looked on. the visit comes among heightened tensions following the missile tests from north korea last week. mr. tillerson: let me be clear. the policy of patients has ended. we are exploring a new age of diplomatic security and economic measures, all options are on the table. north korea must understand the only path to a secure and economically prosperous future is to abandon the development of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction. christopher: an 18-year-old german national that killed 19 people in munich and last july, before turning the gun on himself, was bullied at school. the revelation comes as police release the investigation into

the possible motives of the shooting spree. they say he targeted people who resembled the students that made fun of him. reporter: confusion and anxiety, on july 22 of last year, the german city of munich was swarming with officers after reports emerged an unknown assailant opened fire in one of their malls, before turning the gun on himself. the days that followed were painful and there was widespread uncertainty. then the shocking news, the violence had not been perpetrated by terrorists, but by an 18-year-old man identified only as david s. reporter: eight months later, investigators say the teenager was on a revenge attack for being bullied. >> as a consequence, david developed a deep hatred against anybody that resembled the

youngsters that bullied him. those of similar age and physical parents. -- appearance. the individuals were mostly of southeastern european descent. reporter: a raid on his home revealed that the teenager had gone to great lengths to plan the attack. photographs found on his camera showed he visited the german southwest town of -- where another gun attack had deviously taken place. the photos were taken one year before his munich attack. investigators say he was fascinated by a gun attack in norway that left more than 70 people dead. >> his actions were not politically motivated. david s. had developed xenophobia despite his own family having an immigrant background. he also sometimes used symbols

and phrases. -- nazi symbols and phrases. reporter: the new findings offer a glance into what led to the murder of nine people. the memories of those who died in the shopping mall remain fresh however, as the flowers late in their honor -- laid in their honor. christopher: other stories making the news, a japanese court has ruled the government is responsible for the 2011 disaster where a nuclear power plant went into a meltdown after an earthquake. the findings find that the government neglected safety measures, as well as the plan, and they will now pay compensation to those who were forced to flee their homes. and somali pirates have released hostages in an oil tanker that they hijacked this week. the maritime police exchanging fire with the pirates on thursday and injuring four

civilians. the first hijacking of a commercial vessel near somalia since 2012. plenty more to come on this program, we will take a short break and then a report for you on orangutans lifted to freedom in indonesia. stay with us. ♪ >> the whole dw on one app. and you can help create it. just use the comments function, and send us your videos or photos. the news app for local heroes, dw -- made from mines -- for minds. ♪

♪ christopher: welcome back. this is "dw news," live from berlin. our top story, the german chancellor angela merkel promising to raise defense spending speaking at her first joint news conference with donald trump. the u.s. president reaffirming his commitment to nato. and it is the first time the two leaders have met face to face. and of course, the meeting between the german chancellor and american president very prominent as far as the attention of the business communities concerning trade,

which is high on the agenda. and we have all you need to know. >> absolutely. the two most powerful leaders have sat down in washington with angela merkel paying a visit to the white house to meet donald trump. it is unlikely to have been the easiest of meetings, because behind the scenes angela merkel 's economy minister has been threatening to take the u.s. to court over tariffs. and the u.s. treasury secretary saying that the trade imbalances need assessing. reporter: unveiled to the public at the motor show last week in geneva, it will be made in germany. porsche is a sought-after brand in the u.s., but they do not have factories there. bad for business if the import tax gets the green light, it would have a negative impact on trade between the world's

biggest economy and europe's biggest economy. total trade reaching $174 billion between the u.s. and germany last year, but the trade bill is far from balanced. $113 billion is germany's exports, the rest the u.s. from germany. it is estimated one money and jobs in germany depend on trade with america. both nations see the other as an important investment partner. the volume of german direct investment in the u.s. is $255 billion. on the other hand, the americans hold german investments to the value of $108 billion. trade ties between germany and the u.s. are tightly meshed. neither side would again by putting the relationship on the line. helena: we bring in our man on wall street. do you think donald trump is

seeing germany as a partner or competitor? >> at least if you listen to the u.s. president, it seems to be really a challenge at this point. he said repeatedly he is not against trade, but he is for fair trade. what does that mean? what will he tried to do to change it? will he come up with a border adjustment tax, which we have heard so much about in the past couple of weeks. if you were to go that way, that could hurt american corporations. if you look at the u.s. car industry for example, they get a lot of parts from across the border, the same is true for retail. where some of those big tech companies, apple producing most of the stuff in asia and then they bring it here to the united states, so they would also be hurt if we see that border tax of 20%.

so that is what some people are talking about. so it is really talking about a partnership, but it is not that great at this point. so probably the truth is in the middle. but the president did sound like he does see the european union as competitors. helena: positive data about the state of the u.s. economy, which has been pushing the shares higher. tell us about that. >> over all the state of the u.s. economy seems to be healthy at this point. we heard also on wednesday the last fed meeting when they decided to increased interest rates. we got more data on friday, consumer sentiment pretty much at the highest level in about 12 years. and the leading economic indicators at their highest in a decade and also the numbers from the manufacturing industry increasing for the 6th consecutive month.

overall, the economy seems stable and it justifies the elevated stock prices right now -- that is a question we will answer in the next couple of days and weeks. helea: good -- henlena: good to talk to you. finance ministers from emerging economies have begun their meeting in germany. the venue is the town of --, the g20 agenda addressing issues like climate change. some say they are confident the meeting will be a success. but many countries are worried about donald trump's presidency in the u.s. and how it will usher in a new age of protectionism and isolation. the talks continue until saturday. now we will cross over to our correspondent hajavier who is

reporting from that meeting. protectionism has been the elephants in the room and whether or not that word will make into the final communique. what are you hearing? reporter: from what i am hearing i would say it is unlikely the word protectionism and the commitment to fight it will appear in the final communique of the g 20 finance ministers meeting. the reason is clearly that the u.s. is opposing it fiercely. they succeeded today and illuminating the references the climate change -- eliminating the reference is to climate change, so it is likely they will pursue and succeed and illuminating protectionism -- eliminating protectionism. the question is how they will discuss it tomorrow if they do not want to talk about trade and protectionism. helena: we understand china does not the word fair trade in there either. reporter: that is right. china wants to strike out that

word because the u.s. is pushing for that exact word. it would be fair in the sense that it is better suited for the united states. the details always make the difference. in the end we'll probably see a vague description of what the countries are really looking for. helena: thank you. and that is all from me at the business desk. christopher: thank you. now, syrian activists say an airstrike in aleppo province has killed 42 people, happening during the evening prayers. the village where it occurred is a rebel stronghold. the u.s. military has confirmed it carried out an airstrike in the area, saying they killed several al qaeda militants in the process. after further investigation, the pentagon denied response ability for bombing the mosque.

and we have been getting more on this from a syrian journalist who lives in eastern -- lived in eastern aleppo. we are looking at the allegations that the u.s. airstrike did hit that mosque. reporter: if you look at the place and the location and the airstrikes, there is only one airstrike in this area specifically in the center. the mosque actually consists of a really big yard and it is a structure on two sides, so the airstrike was clearly inside the mosque itself. it is a 24 mosque -- 2-floor mosque, their first floor is a mosque for people and the second floor is an intellectual center. so it was clearly hit, there is

no collateral damage around the mosque or this specific town. if you look at some photos that show the nearby buildings, there is only two buildings and around all of the mosque is only a space, a really empty space. only two buildings nearby and no collateral damage for those buildings, so it was really clear that it was the mosque that was hit. christopher: turning now to indonesia where groups have returned 17 critically endangered orangutans to their natural forest habitat. they were airlifted to a remote area where it is hoped that they will be safe from human infringement. reporter: flying back to freedom, an orangutan lifted by helicopter, one of the recent group of animals returned to the wild by the orangutan survival foundation. still drowsy from the trip, this

creature carefully climbs away from the rescuers. >> people have asked why the orangutans have a better chance of survival than the wild ones. visible answer is, we monitor them every day after they are released. reporter: wild orangutans are often killed while venturing out of the streaking forest -- shrinking force in search of food. police have even arrested plantation workers for killing and eating an orangutan. the natural habitat for the animals is being destroyed to make way for plantations. the foundation is resettling them. it takes years of preparation before an orangutan is ready to be returned to the wild. many have spent years in captivity. >> our target this year is to

release up to 200 orangutans into the forest. reporter: the team hopes the released animals will feel comfortable enough to reproduce and take back their vital role in forest life. christopher: a quick reminder of the top story, german chancellor angela merkel promising to raise german defense spending. she was speaking at her first joint press conference with donald trump, and he ran confirmed -- and he reconfirmed his commitment to nato. this is the first time the two leaders have met face-to-face. we will not take a short break. ♪ -- we will now take a short break. ♪

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(dramatic music) - [narrator] the european union is under severe strain. from the collateral damage of brexit to an influx of migrants and the eurozone debt crisis. the eu is facing an existential threat to the political and economic block. the possibility of individual nations choosing to leave the eu has only fueled the debate. will this crisis spark reform, making the eu stronger than ever? or does it signal the beginning of the breakup? the european union, next on great decisions. (triumphant music) - [man] great decisions is produced by the foreign policy association in association with thomson reuters, funding for great decisions is provided by price water house coopers llp.