WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will host a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel next Thursday, the White House said on Friday. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the two leaders would discuss ransomware attacks that have hit companies in the United States and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline being built from Russia to Germany. Psaki said Biden continued to view the pipeline as a "bad deal." She declined to say if an agreement could be reached on the temporarily suspended U.S. tariffs on Nord Stream 2 AG, the Germany company behind the pipeline, and its chief executive. Merkel is ending her fourth term as chancellor soon. It will be her first visit to Washington since Biden took power in January.