But Merz is now having to perform an abrupt U-turn as the economic and security impacts of the war on the EU’s biggest economy become clearer, and is publicly airing his fears that Trump has no exit strategy to end the fighting in the Persian Gulf.
On Friday, during a visit to Norway, Merz struck his most critical tone to date. He argued the war raised “major questions” about security and added: “It is having a massive impact on our energy costs, and it has the potential to trigger large-scale migration.”
That’s a far cry from his trip to Washington last week. Visiting Trump in the Oval Office, Merz voiced his support for Trump’s war aims. He gave a fawning chuckle when the president bragged of the damage U.S. airstrikes had inflicted on Iran and declared that Berlin was fully aligned with Washington regarding the need to eliminate the dictatorship in Tehran.
But the chancellor no longer appears to be in a laughing mood as the repercussions of the war — now set to enter its third week — increasingly threaten myriad German and European interests. Merz’s political isolation among key European allies and growing pressure from his center-left coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), have pushed the chancellor to take a tougher line on the war in recent days.
Merz increasingly fears the Iran war will deepen his country’s formidable economic woes — with Germany’s already-ailing manufacturing sector taking another hit thanks to soaring energy costs. He also worries it could set back European efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and potentially unleash a new refugee crisis just as he is battling to prevent the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from becoming the country’s most popular political force.
Merz on Friday condemned the Trump administration’s decision late Thursday to ease oil sanctions on Russia in an effort to bring down global oil prices, fearing the move will only serve to refill the Kremlin’s war chest and sustain Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He called the move “wrong.”