The results of Germany’s parliamentary elections on Sunday marked a significant shift to the political right for the country – but not all the way right. The center-right Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union, a united coalition of two parties, won about 29 percent of the vote – wresting control from the Social Democratic Party, which won a historic low of just 16 percent.
In second place was the AfD, or Alternative for Germany, earning just over 20 percent of the vote. Formed in 2013, the rise of AfD is of great concern to many on the left and in the media who consider it a far-right populist party and it looks like it will remain frozen out of government for now.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz will most likely become Germany’s next chancellor, and he has vowed not to work with AfD to form a government. He did, however, have some tough talk for Donald Trump and the United States. On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Case for Trump, to discuss Merz’ rhetoric and what it means for U.S.-German relations going forward.
The Election
The CDU/CSU faction generally represents a moderate right wing, similar to establishment Republican types in the U.S. They want to cut taxes and red tape. They advocate for stricter immigration laws and faster asylum processing, and they are aiming to abolish a law that seeks to get rid of fossil fuel-based heating systems in German homes.
Despite the fact that the center-right coalition and the AfD won a combined 49 percent of the electorate, they are not likely to work together. In Germany, the moderate right and the left typically work together and refuse to cooperate with what they call ‘the far-right.’
That was something Vice President J.D. Vance spoke to during his trip to the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. “What no democracy – American, German, or European – will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered,” he cautioned. “Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There’s no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t.”
It is believed Merz will look to ally with the Social Democrats (SPD), which came in third with the party’s worst post-war result. “They are not going to form a coalition with the more MAGA-esque branch of the conservatives; they’re going to form a coalition with the more leftist branch,” Megyn noted. “It is unfortunate for our German friends because that is not what they need.”
‘Tough’ Talk
Merz hasn’t wasted any time weighing in on how he views the U.S. “It is an absolute priority to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we achieve independence from the U.S. step by step,” he said on Sunday. “After the latest statements by Donald Trump last week, it is clear that the Americans, at any case, these Americans, this administration, mostly don’t care about the fate of Europe, one way or another.”
He also claimed the “intervention from Washington” – a reference to Vance and Elon Musk expressing support for AfD – “was no less drastic, dramatic, and, ultimately, no less outrageous than the intervention that we’ve seen from Moscow.” The Washington Post reported that people close to Merz describe him as “direct and pragmatic” but also “arrogant and thin-skinned.”
Hanson said Merz seems unwilling to take the Trump administration’s “constructive criticism” that says “we want you to live up to your western obligations to ensure free speech,” and he also seems unwilling to accept the will of the German electorate.
“If you took the AfD’s vote and Merz’s vote, it’s about 50 or 51 percent of the people,” he noted. “They should have a conservative government, but he is going to reach out to the Green Party and the Social Democrats and there is not going to be a conservative voice in Germany. That is going to make people even angrier after they feel they voted for a conservative majority.”
Where Germany Stands
And then there is the issue of the German economy. “He better be very careful because his country is running about an $80 billion trade surplus, and it is not based anymore on superior German productivity. They have four times the energy costs that we do and they are not as productive as we are anymore,” Hanson warned. “They are having an $80 billion [surplus] because they charge 5 to 6 percent tariffs on all our goods, and we charge either none, or one, or 2 percent.”
While Hanson said the U.S. has about 75,000 American soldiers stationed in Germany due to post-war security guarantees, the country is not paying its fair share in defense spending in accordance with its NATO membership. Couple that with Germany’s need for liquefied natural gas, and Hanson said “Trump is going to correct that trade surplus with them.”
As Hanson explained, Germany is “very dependent upon” the U.S. whether they like it or not. “We never wanted to go over to Europe… [but] we went over there and saved Europe twice [in the World Wars] and then we protected a vulnerable Germany against Russia for almost a half century in the Cold War,” he said. “They took that free defense and they had the German miracle that was great – they were spending all their resources on being productive.”
But things have changed. “They developed a very harsh grain of anti-Americanism, and… I have my suspicions that had something to do with the humiliation of defeat and then dependency on the United States,” Hanson concluded. “If [Merz] really thinks that Donald Trump is some crazy person with no constituency, he should look at the polls.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Hanson by tuning in to episode 1,012 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.