The German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister was the first Berlin official to meet the new Donald Trump administration. But whether he managed to solidify transatlantic ties depends on who you ask.

Vice Chancellor and newly appointed Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel met his brand new counterpart, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday in Washington. Gabriel was also greeted by Vice President Mike Pence.

The German minister himself said on Thursday that there were differences with US President Donald Trump’s stances on immigration, Europe, Ukraine and relations with Russia. But Gabriel said during his meeting with Pence and Tillerson that these differences did not show.

“I was very happy that we had a wide range of common understanding,” Gabriel said.

But German media seemed to have differing takes on how the meeting truly transpired.

The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) characterized it as “small gestures, a big work in progress”, while Spiegel called their meeting “the icebreaker”.

SZ described “tensions” and “emptiness” in Washington during Gabriel’s visit and noted that Gabriel seems to have to reassure himself about the new American government, continuing to state that Germany must be confident going forward.

“The more often he says this, the more it seems he is trying to give himself courage in stormy times,” the SZ states.

More: