'Grab whatever you want': Trump told German guests swag in WH study could sell for 'thousands'
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump reportedly told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's delegation to "grab whatever you want" from a White House study packed with MAGA memorabilia and shoes.
Trump also suggested the German guests' wives could resell the swag for "thousands of dollars." The unusual exchange came during Merz's March visit to the White House, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday, July 5.
Trump leads Merz into MAGA-filled study
Merz arrived at the White House less than two months after European leaders held a January meeting over Trump's repeated desire to acquire Greenland, the autonomous North Atlantic and Arctic Circle territory from Denmark, the Journal stated.
According to an official cited by the Journal, Merz was surprised to find Trump acting "normal" during their meeting.
The president “listened, asked questions, and appeared open to new information," the report said. "He also seemed knowledgeable about some subjects, though the Journal reported he was surprisingly unaware of others, including the military situation in Ukraine,” it stated.
Then the visit took an unexpected turn.
During their conversation, Trump told, “Merz he had something to show him and led the German chancellor into a small study off the Oval Office.”
Trump announced that it was "the Lewinsky room," a reference to former President Bill Clinton, according to the report.
Inside, the room was filled with MAGA memorabilia, including red hats, as well as boxes of Florsheim dress shoes, it said.
Trump tells German guests to grab whatever they want
Trump then invited the German visitors to help themselves to the items in the room.
"Just grab whatever you want," Trump told his guests, according to the Journal's account.
The president went further, reportedly telling the German delegation that their wives could sell the swag for "thousands of dollars."
The moment stood out against the official's description of Merz's initial impression of Trump as "normal."
“What began as a meeting in which Trump listened and asked questions shifted into a tour of a study filled with political merchandise and shoes,” the report said.
The Journal described the March encounter as part of a previously unreported account of European leaders' dealings with Trump after his renewed push to acquire Greenland.
Greenland fears preceded Merz's Trump visit
Those concerns had already brought European heads of government together in January after Trump reiterated that the United States must have Greenland for national security purposes.
Trump has indicated that he wants Greenland to become a US territory, according to the report.
At the January meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron drew a firm boundary around the issue.
"We are drawing a line here," Macron declared.
At the time, Macron had deployed French troops to Greenland for joint military exercises with Denmark, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Less than two months later, Merz was at the White House with Trump, where the president took him into the study off the Oval Office, pointed out the MAGA memorabilia and Florsheim shoes, and told the German guests, "Just grab whatever you want."
Trump then added that their wives could sell the swag for "thousands of dollars."
