Germany Loves to Hate Friedrich Merz

Germany’s chancellor is doing far better than everyone seems to think.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to the media following a two-day government cabinet retreat at Villa Borsig on October 1, 2025 in Berlin. December 12, 2025, 11:34 AM

Watching Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz in London on another mercy mission to shore up Ukraine from the pincer attack of Moscow and Washington, it was intriguing to watch their body language for answers to the following question: Between the British prime minister, French president, and German chancellor, which one is in the gravest danger? Or, to put it another way: Whose country is in a worse state?

Many Germans have no doubt—Merz has been in office for seven months, but the “Berlin bub

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