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Merkel Hints at Confrontation With Trump at G-20 Summit

Tells lawmakers to brace for “very difficult” talks on climate change, trade.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday warned lawmakers of a potential confrontation with the U.S. at next week’s G-20 summit, cautioning against “isolationism and protectionism” in a jab at Donald Trump. Weeks after Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris agreement to cut carbon emissions, Merkel told lawmakers to expect “very difficult” talks over climate change and trade at the G-20 in Hamburg. “Whoever believes the problems of this world can be solved by isolationism and protectionism is making a tremendous error,” Merkel said. Germany is “more determined than ever” to make the climate agreement work, she said. “We will and must take on this existential challenge and we cannot and will not wait until every last person in the world can be convinced of climate change by scientific evidence. In other words: The climate treaty is irreversible and is not negotiable.”