Donald Trump was corrected by the German Chancellor after committing an embarrassing gaffe on the eve of the D-Day anniversary. Friedrich Merz was meeting with the US President at the White House to discuss the Russia–Ukraine war and trade.

However, things went south in the Oval Office when when the German Chancellor reminded Mr Trump that tomorrow, June 6, is the 81st anniversary of D-Day. Mr Trump replied: “Not a pleasant day for you. That was not a great day.” This appeared to suggest that Trump thought that Germans might not view the day favourably, despite it commemmorating the beginning of the end for Nazi rule. Forced to correct him after the blunder, Mr Merz replied: “This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship.”

Allied troops, mainly from Britain, America and Canada, took part in the Normandy Landings, codenamed Operation Overlord, which ultimately paved the way for the defeat of Nazi Germany 11 months later in May 1945.

It was a key turning point in the Second World War and the largest amphibious invasion in warfare history, with around 156,000 allied troops landing on beaches in Normandy, northern France.

Mr Merz said the German people are thankful for America’s role in ending Nazi rule and said the US is “again in a very strong position” to this time help end the war in Ukraine.

“We know what we owe you, but this is the reason why I’m saying that America is again, in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war. So let’s talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can,” he said.

It was Mr Merz’s first visit to the White House since becoming German chancellor.

The talks were less explosive than other meetings with foreign leaders in the Oval Office.

Ukraine was at the top of the agenda and the US President likened the war to “two young children fighting”.

He said: “Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy.

“They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don’t want to be pulled.

“Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.”

He added he used the analogy during his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

The US President has regularly threatened Russia with further sanctions as peace talks continue to make little progress

When asked by reporters whether there was a deadline for this, Mr Trump said: “It’s in my brain.”

During the talks in Washington, Mr Merz presented Mr Trump with the birth certificate of his German-born grandfather, Friedrich Trump.