German ambassador to U.S. downplays Trump-Merkel tensions

German ambassador to the United States on Wednesday downplayed the increased tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling the bilateral relationship was "good and productive."

"This is a healthy relationship. Chancellor Merkel and the U.S. president, they have a good and productive relationship," said Ambassador Peter Wittig in an interview with CNN.

"They met in Washington very extensively. They met now in Europe. They are on the phone frequently," he added.

Trump early on Tuesday called Germany's trade and military spending policies "very bad" for the United States as tensions between him and Merkel increased.

"We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Very bad for U.S. This will change."

The blast came two days after Merkel cast doubts on EU's alignment with the United States and Britain, saying that Europeans should determine their own destiny.

Addressing a election campaign at a beer tent in Germany's southern state of Bavaria, Merkel said on Sunday that following the election of Trump and Brexit, Europeans "really have to take destiny into their own hands."

"The times when we could fully rely on others are to some extent over," Merkel said.

Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel also criticized President Trump on Monday, accusing him of "short sighted policies which stand against the European Union and are weakening the West."

However, as tensions between the two side escalated rapidly, Merkel on Tuesday stressed German ties with the United States, saying that the relationship is of "outstanding importance."

Trump and Merkel had a long history of disagreement that was previously focused on the two leaders' view on immigration.

During his campaign and also after winning the presidency, Trump repeatedly blasted Merkel for making a "catastrophic mistake" with her open door policy on refugees, while Merkel did not shy away from criticizing Trump in the wake of his travel ban order that sought to temporarily ban travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries in January.