Readout of the President and First Lady's Call with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany

The President and First Lady spoke by telephone today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband, Professor Dr. Joachim Sauer, to express appreciation for their personal friendship and efforts to forge deeper partnership between Germany and the United States over the last eight years. The President thanked Chancellor Merkel for her strong, courageous, and steady leadership. The President and Chancellor agreed that close cooperation between Washington and Berlin and between the United States and Europe are essential to ensuring a sturdy trans-Atlantic bond, a rules-based international order, and the defense of values that have done so much to advance human progress in our countries and around the world. Given their eight years of friendship and partnership, the President noted that it was fitting that his final call with a foreign leader was with Chancellor Merkel, and he wished her the very best going forward.