Merz announces his Trump plan: Things are heating up within 48 hours – which the Chancellor finds "absurd"

EXPRESS Merz announces his Trump plan: Things are heating up within 48 hours – which the Chancellor finds "absurd" 3 hours • 1 minute reading time The new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz (CDU), has criticized the US government's support for the German AfD and announced a clarifying telephone call with US President Donald Trump. The US government is currently spreading "absurd views of the Federal Republic of Germany," Merz said in an interview on ZDF on Tuesday evening (May 6, 2025). The US government must "stay out" of German domestic politics. Friedrich Merz calls Donald Trump on Thursday Merz was referring to the US government's support for the AfD and the US's criticism of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution's classification of the AfD as right-wing extremist. "I will call the American president on Thursday," Merz said. He does not yet know Trump personally, but will speak with him "openly." "I would like to encourage and encourage the American government to let domestic politics in Germany be domestic politics and to largely stay out of these partisan considerations," Merz continued. He himself has never "interfered in the American election campaign and taken one-sided sides," Merz said. Regarding the US support for the AfD, he said: "I've always had the impression that America can distinguish between extremist parties and parties of the political center." Unlike several other Western heads of state and government, Trump has not yet congratulated Merz on his election as Chancellor. However, congratulations did come from the US State Department. "We will continue to work with Germany and its new administration to ensure the security of the United States and Europe," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.