CNN’s Christiane Amanpour scored and exclusive one-on-one with German chancellor Angela Merkel. And in it, the veteran journalist did not hold back.

In a preview excerpt which aired on CNN’s New Day Monday, Amanpour grilled Merkel on her relationship with President Donald Trump — framing the German chancellor as something of a favorite target for the the U.S. president.

“You’ve been a bit of at a punching bag for President Trump,” Amanpour said. “He’s said some quite strong things about your relationship with Russia, and all the rest of it.”

The CNN correspondent went on to ask Merkel to characterize their relationship.

“His own White House says, he’s only strong with the people he considers friends,” Amanpour said. “Do you consider him a friend?”

Merkel wouldn’t go that far. But she was surprisingly deferential.

“I think we have close cooperation, which simply results from problems we have had to resolve together,” Merkel said. She added, “In every communique which we had to declare, I was also the host for the G-20 negotiations in Hamburg. We had contentious debates. But in the end, we also found common ground.

“It’s certainly is always a challenge to debate, but I happily take on this challenge. The president has his opinions. I have mine. And very often, we also find common ground. If not, we have to keep on talking and negotiating.”

Watch above, via CNN.

from Mediaite http://bit.ly/2Ma2SeV