Merkel knows she has to deal with Trump. The question is how

Merkel cannot afford to remain silent as Trump's unpopularity grows on the Continent

Over her 11 years in power, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has proved uncommonly adept at solving the puzzle-box challenges posed by the world’s most unpredictable leaders. But she has never met a problem like Donald J Trump.

Mr Trump and Ms Merkel — estranged by widely diverging temperaments, worldviews, leadership styles and visions of Europe — had a breakthrough of sorts just before their brief meeting on the eve of the Group of 20 conference in Hamburg on Thursday night. They got the handshake right.

The 40-minute meeting that followed was mostly uneventful, touching only lightly on the hot-button topics of