Free Republic

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gifted President Trump a gilded framed copy of his grandfather’s birth certificate during their first face-to-face meeting at the White House Thursday. The gold-encased present, a reflection of the president’s signature Oval Office décor, paid tribute to Friedrich Trump, who was born in Kallstadt, Germany, in 1869 and later immigrated to the United States. “That’s serious German,” Trump said in response to the gesture. “I want to thank you for that. That’s beautiful. Thank you very much. Fantastic. We’ll put it up in a place of honor.” Trump was previously gifted a “golden pager” from Israeli...

The German chancellor’s drive to keep a campaign pledge of more robust backing for Ukraine is running into blocks within his own government as he prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Berlin.Friedrich Merz made a full-throated declaration on Monday, hours before Zelenskyy’s one-day visit was announced, that Germany was for the first time lifting previous range restrictions on weapons supplied to Kyiv, along with Ukraine’s other main western supporters.His statement – in an interview with a public broadcaster, which his team later posted to social media – was widely interpreted as a pivot toward bolstering Berlin’s aid to Kyiv at...

In his first address to the Bundestag parliament on Wednesday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to rearm Germany so that the country would have the “strongest” military force in Europe. Following years of chronic underinvestment in defence and relying on the United States for protection, Chancellor Merz told lawmakers that “strengthening the Bundeswehr is our top priority” and will make “every effort to continue to achieve the greatest possible agreement between the European and American partners.” In this context, Merz promised to expand Germany’s military forces “into the strongest conventional army in Europe,” Die Welt reports.

Just a hair over a week ago (ten days to be exact), an official arm of the German government declared the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party - now polling as Germany's most popular party in the country - a 'right-wing extremist' group. Yeah, right - so big deal, no? I mean, they've been calling them that forever. Actually, it was a big deal. It made the epithet an official label, opening the party and every last one of its members to constant, sanctioned (instead of surreptitious) government surveillance. It was also the first necessary step in the process of...

French President Emmanuel Macron suffered an embarrassing moment during a train ride into Ukraine on Sunday. Reporters filmed Macron during a train ride from Poland to Ukraine with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.The three leaders are on their way to Kiev to discuss the ongoing war with Russia and potential peace talks.Rumors quickly began to spread that Macron possessed cocaine after he quickly grabbed a crumpled-up tissue. Others speculated that Merz tried to cover a straw or a spoon.WATCH at link. Three men and a bag of white powder.Notice how Macron sneakily and deftly swipes...

Germany’s Friedrich Merz has formally become chancellor at the second attempt, hours after an unprecedented defeat signaled deep discontent within his coalition. In a hastily organized session on Tuesday afternoon, 325 lawmakers voted to approve his appointment — more than the 316 he required. His appointment was approved by the president shortly later, and he is set to be sworn in at the Bundestag. Merz, who won an election in February and unveiled a ruling coalition last month, had fallen six votes short earlier in the day, a stunning setback that marked another twist in a tortuous period of uncertainty...

Germany's conservative leader Friedrich Merz narrowly lost a vote in the Bundestag to become the next chancellor in an unexpected setback that plunges Europe's largest economy into political uncertainty. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which finished second in the most recent election, demanded fresh elections after Merz's loss, the first time in German history that a chancellor-designate has failed to win in the first round of voting.

Germany’s Friedrich Merz has failed to win an initial parliamentary vote that would have confirmed his ascension to chancellor, an unprecedented and unexpected twist that extends political uncertainty for the country. Merz, who won an election in February and unveiled a ruling coalition last month, fell six short in a vote on Tuesday by lawmakers that had been expected to be a formality. He is expected to eventually find a path to power, but the result pitches Germany into yet more political chaos. February’s vote started a weeks-long period of politicking and negotiating, during which the country’s establishment was buffeted...

ICC arrest warrant: Germany’s incoming leader stands by Netanyahu. Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, invites Netanyahu for a visit, says arrangements would be made to prevent Netanyahu from being arrested.

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said after his unofficial victory Sunday that a top priority is to make his country and the rest of Europe stronger so that they can become independent from the U.S. with President Donald Trump in office. “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” Merz said, according to the news outlet Politico . He also said Trump's recent comments show "Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”...

He also says Trump doesn’t care about Europe and slams Musk’s election 'interventions'

Friedrich Merz is poised to become Germany's next chancellor in a government led by the Christian Democratic Union and its sister party, the Christian Social Union...He is seen as a center-right, pro-business politician...[Also, a] migration hard-liner and longtime rival of Angela Merkel...

The debate is raging about Syrian migrants living in Germany and whether hundreds of thousands will have to return to their homeland.. Germany’s Christian Democrat Union (CDU) candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz says that Germany cannot accept more Syrians from Syria and that those Syrians who are not integrated should return to Syria. Notably, Merz is pointing to the sky-high levels of unemployment among many of the country’s Syrian population. The chancellor candidate, during an appearance on ARD, said the “one-third” who “work and are integrated” in Germany can stay, “but the two-thirds do not work, they are overwhelmingly young...

Germany's ruling coalition has collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner just hours after Donald Trump's US election win. The coalition collapsed due to disagreements over budget policy, with Lindner opposing tax hikes and debt increases. Scholz plans a parliamentary confidence vote on January 15, potentially leading to a snap election by March 2025. Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz said there's "absolutely no reason" to wait that long. "There is absolutely no reason to wait until January of next year to ask for a vote of confidence," he said. "The traffic light coalition no longer has...

Another apocalyptic conspiracy theory is going around on TikTok — but there’s a simple answer to it. The online panic started when a video of Friedrich Merz, a German politician, posted to Twitter saying, “Dear Colleagues…September 24, 2022, will be remembered by all of us as a day which we will say, ‘I remember exactly where I was.’ “ The remark sparked several conspiracy theories of things going wrong that day, including that a big solar flare would hit the earth and create tropical cyclones resulting in mass destruction, according to Middle East Mashable.

BERLIN (AP) — Members of Germany's biggest opposition party, the center-right Christian Democratic Union of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, have chosen prominent conservative Friedrich Merz as its new leader, the party said Friday. Merz's election with a strong mandate appears to mark at least a symbolic break with the Merkel era. Making his third run for the CDU's top post, he took 62.1% support in a ballot of the party's membership to beat two centrist contenders. A party convention next month will have to sign off officially on the membership vote, but that should only be a formality. Armin Laschet,...

In a line that says a lot about where health care is heading under Obamacare, an insurance executive offering plans through the law was quoted in the New York Times on Tuesday as saying, “We have to break people away from the choice habit that everyone has.” Marcus Merz, the chief executive of PreferredOne, made the remark in an article describing the trend toward narrow networks in health care plans. The article notes, "In the midst of all the turmoil in health care these days, one thing is becoming clear: No matter what kind of health plan consumers choose, they...

Health insurers are now openly admitting that with Obamacare’s reforms, patient choice can no longer be a priority for Americans. “We have to break people away from the choice habit that everyone has,” Marcus Merz, CEO of Minnesota insurer PreferredOne, told The New York Times Tuesday. “We’re all trying to break away from this fixation on open access and broad networks.” With boatloads of mandatory services provided each and every customer whether they’re wanted or not, health insurers’ costs are going up. If insurance companies are going to keep prices at a manageable level, narrow networks are one of their...