Germany's Merz to travel to Washington for talks with Trump

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Washington on Monday ahead of talks with US President Donald Trump scheduled for Tuesday.

The chancellor's second visit to the White House since taking office 10 months ago had been planned for some time.

However, the recent strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran are now expected to dominate discussions in the Oval Office, the president's office in the West Wing.

A lunch with Trump is planned following the talks.

The meeting was originally expected to focus on the tariff dispute with the US, Russia's war in Ukraine and policy towards China, but the crisis in Iran will now take centre stage.