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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday presented United States President Donald Trump, who turned 80 on Sunday, June 14, with a personalised German national team football jersey as a belated birthday gift during the G-7 Summit underway in France.
The gesture also carried symbolic significance as the US is co-hosting the ongoing FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. The scene unfolded as world leaders gathered in Evian, France, for a G-7 session related to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The jersey featured Trump's name and the number 47 on the back, referring to his status as the 47th President of the US.
Trump accepted the gift wearing a smile and posed with it momentarily for cameras before folding it and laying it on the table beside him.
"Happy belated 80th birthday," Merz wrote on X, sharing photos of the moment he handed over the present. "After all, we're on the same team," the message added.
Both the US and German teams opened their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaigns with dominant wins last week. While the Americans beat Paraguay 4-1 on Friday, Germany handed an overwhelming 7-1 defeat to Curacao on Sunday.
This was not the first time that Merz presented Trump with a customised gift. During a meeting last year, the German chancellor gifted the US president a golf club and a gold-framed reproduction of the birth certificate of his paternal grandfather, who was born and raised in Germany.
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(With inputs from agencies)
Published On:
Jun 16, 2026 19:52 IST
