US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are hosting a dinner in honor of the outgoing Chancellor when Angela Merkel visits the White House next Thursday.
Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer will also attend the dinner, according to the US President's weekly program published by the White House on Sunday evening.
Before that, a bilateral discussion, an extended meeting and a joint press conference by Merkel and Biden are on the program on Thursday.
Merkel is the first head of government from Europe to have been received by Biden in the White House since he took office in January.
Biden wants to talk to Merkel about the controversial Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline
Biden wants to repair relations with Germany, which were heavily burdened under his predecessor Donald Trump.
According to the White House, the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline will also be addressed at the meeting with Merkel.
The governments in Washington and Berlin are trying to find a compromise on the issue.
"We still believe that it is a bad deal that brings global problems with it," said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki last Friday.
In addition, it should be about climate change, the fight against the corona pandemic, the relationship with China and Russia and numerous other topics.
Biden's weekly program stated that Merkel's working visit “will reaffirm deep and lasting bilateral relations between the United States and Germany”. For Merkel it should be the last trip to the USA as Chancellor. She will no longer run in the federal election at the end of September. Merkel was last in the White House in April 2018, when Trump was President.