German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presented Donald Trump with a personalised German national football shirt at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, bearing “TRUMP 47” on the back in a light-hearted moment of personal diplomacy the day after the US president turned 80.
The white shirt, featuring Germany’s black, red and gold accents, was handed to Trump during a working session at the summit, which runs from 15 to 17 June. Official photographs posted by Merz on his @bundeskanzler account show the chancellor, standing in a blue suit, presenting the jersey to a smiling Trump, who examined it carefully before folding it. The nameplates of Trump and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are visible on the conference table in the background. A close-up image shows the back of the shirt clearly displaying “TRUMP 47” in bold lettering, the number referencing Trump’s status as the 47th president of the United States.
Merz captioned the post: “Happy belated 80th birthday, @POTUS. After all, we’re on the same team.”
The gesture was widely described as “World Cup diplomacy,” arriving ahead of the 2026 tournament currently under way in North America and injecting a rare moment of levity into a summit dominated by serious discussions on the war in Ukraine, Middle East tensions, NATO commitments, trade disputes and security. It follows a pattern of personal goodwill gestures from Merz towards Trump: the chancellor previously gifted the president a framed copy of his grandfather Friedrich Trump’s German birth certificate.
Reaction in Germany has been mixed, with some welcoming the rapport-building and others suggesting it was overly deferential. Diplomatically, however, the exchange was seen as a positive signal of improving transatlantic relations at a summit where the alliance between Washington and European partners has been under considerable strain.
