German Chancellor Angela Merkel Blew Off President Biden's First Call To A Foreign Leader

Biden wanted his first call to a foreign leader to be to Angela Merkel, but she blew him off to spend time at her country house: report  

Daily Mail: Biden wanted his first call to a foreign leader to be to Angela Merkel, but she blew him off and he phoned Boris Johnson instead 

* President Biden wanted his first call to a foreign leader to go to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but she turned him down to spend the weekend away 

* Biden's second option was UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who accepted his first foreign phone call 

* The chancellor's advisors reportedly warned her that the US president would have to call several other leaders ahead of her, but she said she found the symbolism irrelevant 

* Merkel, a member of the conservative party, is stepping down from her chancellorship in the coming months after 16 years in charge 

In a show of traditional trans-Atlantic diplomacy, President Biden wanted his first call to a foreign leader to go to German chancellor Angela Merkel, but she turned him down to spend more time at her country home. 

Biden's second option was UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who accepted his first foreign phone call. 

Merkel declined Biden's call to spend more time at her country home outside Berlin, where she spends some weekends tending to her vegetable garden and taking walks by the lake, those close to her told the Wall Street Journal. 

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Update: Biden wanted his first call to a foreign leader to be to Angela Merkel, but she blew him off to spend time at her country house: report (Business Insider)  

WNU Editor: Traditionally the first leader that a newly elected US President called was the Canadian Prime Minister. I guess that tradition is now dead.

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