Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union in Germany, wasted no time after his party’s victory in national elections warning about the dangers posed by President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk.
Politico reports that Merz on Sunday argued that Europeans needed to make a break from the United States, which he said could no longer guarantee their continent’s security as it had done for the last 80 years.
“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. “I never thought I would have to say something like this on a television program. But after Donald Trump’s statements last week at the latest, it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”
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This could mean coordinating nuclear weapons programs with the United Kingdom and France, he said, and potentially even the disbanding of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).
Merz even went so far as to imply that the United States under Trump was essentially on the same side as Russia when it comes to geopolitical affairs.
“”I have absolutely no illusions about what is happening from America,” he said. “Just look at the recent interventions in the German election campaign by Mr. Elon Musk — that is a unique event. The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow. We are under such massive pressure from two sides that my absolute priority now really is to create unity in Europe.”