By Sarah Marsh, Andrea Shalal and Andreas Rinke BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will hold his first face-to-face talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office as Europe seeks to stave off looming U.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Germany’s new leader is meeting President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe’s biggest economy and further bolster his country’s long-criticized military spending.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in Washington D.C. Thursday to meet with President Donald Trump in person for the first time.