US President Barack Obama said today that he would not let intrusive surveillance undermine his relationship of "friendship and trust" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"I don't need and I don't want to harm that relationship by a surveillance mechanism that somehow would impede the kind of communication and trust that we have," Obama told German television ZDF, according to excerpts of an interview to be aired today.
"And so what I can say is: as long as I'm president of the United States, the chancellor of Germany will not have to worry about this.
