内容摘要：But that is all she will say on the matter. French winemakers are walking on eggshells at the moment, fearful of saying anything that might aggravate the situation.

But that is all she will say on the matter. French winemakers are walking on eggshells at the moment, fearful of saying anything that might aggravate the situation.

Tariffs, defence spending and the war in Ukraine will be high on the agenda when Merz meets Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House.There's also speculation that Trump's team - which repeatedly has weighed in on Germany's domestic politics - could subject him to an Oval Office "ambush".

It would not be the first time.Both South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky found themselves in awkward, tense or even fiery exchanges as the world's cameras rolled, capturing every moment. Those moments have turned once cosy, diplomatic moments in the Oval Office into potentially fraught, tight-rope walks for visiting leaders.Ahead of the visit, Berlin expressed confidence that the German side is ready. "I think he's well prepared for this meeting," Friedrich Merz's spokesman told reporters this week.

Merz - from the centre-right CDU party - is not just prepared, but on friendly terms with the US President, according to German media.The pair are even said to have exchanged text messages and be on a first name basis, Germany's ARD news outlet has reported.

It's always important to not talk for too long," Merz recently opined on German TV. "But to keep it short and also let him talk."

Merz's forthright, "shoot-from-the-hip" style of politics could add an interesting dimension to the meeting. His remarks can be surprising and make headlines - a stark contrast to those of his more cautious predecessors, Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel.Changing the rules will also mean more money for areas of the North and Midlands, including the so-called "Red Wall", where Labour MPs face an electoral challenge from Reform UK.

Reeves is not the first chancellor to review the Treasury's investment rules; former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also reviewed the book as part of the Conservatives' Levelling up agenda.Sunak had also announced some of these same projects, including the development of a mass transit network in West Yorkshire, in his Network North plan, intended to compensate for the decision to scrap the HS2 line north of Birmingham.

Labour reviewed these projects when they came to power in July, arguing they had not been fully funded.Conservative shadow Treasury minister Gareth Davies accused Labour of copying and pasting announcements made by the Conservative government".