He sharply criticised US President Donald Trump’s apparent right-hand man, Elon Musk, for meddling in the German election campaign after the tech billionaire publicly backed the far-right AfD, saying it was the only party that “can save Germany”.
With the CDU winning the most seats in the 2025 German federal election, Merz is now in line to become the next chancellor of Germany.
Mr Merz has long been a supporter and advocate for maintaining excellent relationships with the US, but this has changed following President Donald Trump’s election win.
And one of his first things to declare was how he hoped Germany could gain “independence” from the US as he slammed Washington for trying to influence the German election.
In his career, Merz worked as a judge and corporate lawyer before leaving his job to enter the political stage full-time in 1989, when he was elected to the European Parliament.
