Trump fires back at Merkel after Munich speech

US President Donald Trump fought back at Angela Merkel on Tuesday after the German Chancellor gave a sharp speech in Munich about US trading practices.

Merkel said on Monday that "Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands," and that recent events in the US and the UK showed that those countries cannot be relied upon.

Trump hit back via Twitter however, referring to the trade deficit between Germany and the US.

"We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change," Trump tweeted.

Trump has previously criticised other members of Nato for not meeting commitments on defence spending.

The war of words comes off the back of last week’s G7 summit in Sicily, where there appeared to be no shortage of hostility at a time of high political uncertainty. While the other six members of the group agreed to back the Paris climate accord, Trump said the US needed more time to evaluate it.