Germany's Leader-in-Waiting Vows 'Independence' From US

President Trump congratulated Fredrich Merz—and himself—after Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union prevailed in Sunday's election in Germany, but Merz soon spoke of achieving "independence" from the US. "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, " he said in a post-election debate, per ABC News. More on Merz:

• Who is Merz? Merz, who will replace Chancellor Olaf Scholz if he is able to build a coalition, is a conservative businessman who left politics after a long power struggle with former CDU leader Angela Merkel, who went on to become chancellor, the New York Times reports. He returned as Merkel was preparing to retire and became CDU leader in 2022, promising to move the party to the right on issues including immigration.

• He condemns "outrageous" Trump remarks. During the Sunday debate, Merz slammed "outrageous" remarks from Trump, who blamed Ukraine last week for starting the war, Politico reports. After Trump's statements, "it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe," said Merz, who also condemned Elon Musk's support for the far-right AfD party.
• Coalition talks could be tricky. Reuters reports that Merz will face "complex and lengthy coalition negotiations" to form a government. His bloc took around 29% of the vote. AfD doubled its share of the vote, coming second with around 20.5%, but other parties generally refuse to work with AfD as part of a longstanding "firewall" against the far right, meaning Merz may have to govern as part of a three-party coalition. The center-left Social Democratic Party is considered the most likely coalition partner, CNBC reports.

(More Germany stories.)