There are two ways to respond to a verbal attack. Firstly, to engage with the topic, argue and substantiate your position with your own examples and facts, or secondly, to apply the 3-T rule (touch-turn-talk). This means briefly categorising the attack (#touch) and then quickly returning to your own safe ground in terms of content (#turn) and deepening it (#talk).
Friedrich Merz, German Chancellor 🇩🇪, provided the best visual material during the visit in the White House on June 5, 2025:
Friedrich Merz: «You know tomorrow is D-Day Anniversary, when americans ended a war in Europe.»
Donald Trump: «That was not a pleasant day for you? This is not a great day.» (#attack)
Friedrich Merz: «No, that was not a pleasant day — well, but in the long run, Mr. President, this was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship.» (#touch and #turn)
Despite Trump’s gaffe, Merz stated that Germany and other European countries are once again hoping for help from the United States and want to talk about Trump putting “more pressure on Russia” to end its invasion of Ukraine. (#talk)
Video:
https://newrepublic.com/post/196201/donald-trump-germany-d-day-not-great
