Opinion
This Trump sentence about Merz shows that you shouldn’t believe anything
US President Donald Trump speaks in the highest tones of Chancellor Friedrich Merz-and once again spreads false information. A look between the lines.
It is no secret that Donald Trump throws around with superlatives. He also uses the word “Great”, great in German, inflationary – “Make America Great Again”.
In the best Trump manner, the US President now praised Friedrich Merz. “I had a great phone call to the German Chancellor. He is a strong guy, a very good man, had a big election victory,” said Trump to journalists.
Big election victory? With Merz, the Union won the early Bundestag election in 2025 (28.6 percent), but landed the second worst result in the history of the CDU/CSU. Only 2021 did the party with top candidate Armin Laschet worse (24.1 percent). What Trump says about Merz is objectively wrong, again.
Disability regarding Ukraine – Merz, according to Trump, is still “smart”
After Trump had carried out how great Merz was, a reporter asked him whether the two statesmen agreed to deliver the US weapon system Patriot to Ukraine. The response from the US President: “No, but we talked about it. He thinks they (the Ukrainians) have to be protected.” Trump emphasizes again: “He is a strong guy, a clever, a very clever man.”
In this basic geopolitical question, Trump is not an opinion with the German Chancellor, but still describes him as “smart”.
Visiting Washington breaks the ice cream
In any case, it was not Trump’s first praise for Merz: when he visited the White House a month ago, he and the US President got on well. The Chancellor also convinced with his gift: a copy of the birth certificate from Trump’s grandfather who was German.
The two chatted again on the NATO summit in the Haag. After the meeting, Merz even posted a video on social media on how he and Trump pat each other’s back. “Friends, partners, allies. Friends, partners, allies,” it says.
Trump is benevolent towards Merz – and usually speaks positively about him. So the Chancellor can be happy, but if you look at the content between the lines, the doubt should be allowed: there is a great discrepancy between facts and ramblings.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
