German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua)

BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Tuesday tried to smooth things over the recent verbal battle between Germany and the United States.

Gabriel admitted in a press meeting that "it's true that we have a difficult situation in relations between Germany and U.S.", but he believed "we will come back to good relations in the future".

After a unsatisfactory G7 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday made a campaign speech in a Bavarian beer tent, grumbling Europe's alignment with the U.S. and Britain.

She said following the election of the U.S President Donald 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 in the beer tent.

Some of the G7 agendas were especially tough for Merkel, among them was the rise of protectionism and the discussion about the climate pact Paris Agreement, which Trump refused to endorse.

However, Trump blasted back against Merkel on Tuesday, tweeting Americans "have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO&military. Very Bad for U.S., this will change".

He renewed his allegation earlier at NATO summit that Germany doesn't pay its full -- 2 percent of GDP share toward defense.

Their exchange of words has sparked a media buzz. Some analysts dubbed their remarks "a turning point" of German-U.S. relationship, saying Merkel clearly wants to distance Germany from the Trump administration.

Yet Gabriel tried to play down the spat, describing it as "trivialized things", while saying it is "inappropriate" for the two nations to communicate with each other between a beer tent and Twitter.

The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday also attempted to calm the waters, saying Merkel and Trump "get along very well".

"He has a lot of respect for her," Spicer said.