(FILES) US President Donald Trump (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a panel discussion on the second day of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. US President-elect Donald Trump has a fascination with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel says in her memoirs to be presented on November 26, 2024, according to excerpts published by Die Zeit newspaper on November 21, 2024. At their first meeting in Washington in March 2017 after Trump was elected to his first term in the White House, the US leader "asked me a series of questions", Merkel said. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)