Donald Trump doesn’t mince his words when it comes to German Chancellor Friederich Merz.Image: keystone
April 28, 2026, 9:26 p.mApril 28, 2026, 9:26 p.m
After Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s clear criticism of the US offensive against Iran, US President Donald Trump massively verbally attacked him. “He has no idea what he’s talking about!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. It is no wonder “that Germany is doing so badly, both economically and in other respects!” He accused Merz (CDU) of agreeing that Iran had nuclear weapons and praised his own actions.
The Federal Chancellor and the US President actually had a good relationship with each other. Merz sees himself as one of the few politicians who have good access to Trump. He has also been a guest at the White House several times, and the meetings passed without any arguments.
Merz sees no US exit strategy
Recently, however, Merz adopted a new tone and publicly criticized Washington. He accused the US government of not having an exit strategy for the Iran war. “Because the Iranians are obviously stronger than expected and the Americans obviously don’t have a really convincing strategy in the negotiations,” he said during a discussion with students in Marsberg in the Sauerland.
“The problem with such conflicts is always: you not only have to get in, you also have to get out again. We saw this very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw that in Iraq,” the Chancellor continued. The Americans “obviously went into this war without any strategy” in Iran. This makes it all the more difficult to end the conflict now. “Especially since the Iranians are obviously negotiating very cleverly – or not negotiating very cleverly,” said Merz. “An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian government.”
Merz also takes a different approach to other conflicts
Merz also opposed Trump in other simmering conflicts. With regard to a US intervention in Cuba, he said: “Despite all the problems that this country has with the communist regime domestically, Cuba poses no discernible threat to third countries outside of Cuba.” He doesn’t see “on what basis an intervention should take place here.” Trump had openly threatened Cuba with a “takeover”. (sda/dpa)