Ribbentrop's declaration and the American destroyer incidents

Ribbentrop's diplomatic note to Leland B. Morris builds its case around the existing Atlantic conflict. It cites Roosevelt's shoot-on-sight order and names Greer, Kearny, and Reuben James in allegations of attacks on German submarines. The note also accuses American naval forces of seizing German merchant shipping while favoring Britain's war effort. These are the German government's stated grounds for claiming that the United States had already created a state of war. A reported encounter then has Ribbentrop shouting that Roosevelt wanted the war and now had it. Versions of that encounter differ and trace mainly to George F. Kennan, a diplomat working with Morris, so the reported outburst needs to remain distinct from the text of the declaration.