German media is asking how much President Obama knows about the spying on Angela Merkel. One magazine said the USA started tapping Ms Merkel's mobile phone in 2002, under George W. Bush. It says Obama knew about the tap in 2010, before he visited Berlin to talk about the warm friendship between the US and Germany. Ms Merkel's SMS messages and phone calls went straight to the White House. The US Embassy in Berlin was used for the spying.

The spying began before Ms Merkel was in power. It started because Germany did not support the Iraq War. Obama told Ms Merkel that he knew nothing about the spying. However, one report said Mr Obama ordered the programme to continue. It warned of "grave damage for relations" if the programme was discovered. Ms Merkel is shocked that the USA could spy like it was the Cold War. This happened before the end of communism in Eastern Europe.