CSU party conference
Merz: No matter who wins the US election – it won’t be easy

CDU chairman Friedrich Merz looks seriously at the US election. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
In his speech at the CSU party conference, Friedrich Merz addressed the US election in November – and made a serious forecast.
With a view to the US presidential election in November Friedrich Merz (CDU) made future economic cooperation with the United States more difficult than before. If the Democrat Kamala Harris wins, it will be a little “friendlier”, but if the Republican Donald Trump wins, it will be “pretty unfriendly,” said Merz at the CSU party conference in Augsburg. “The result” will be “the same for both.”
No matter which candidate wins the US election, we are preparing for every new American government to focus much more economically on the Asia-Pacific region than on the transatlantic region, Merz continued. However, US President Barack Obama had already initiated a greater focus on the Pacific economic areas. The phase of globalization of open markets appears to be “over for now”. That comes from China, but also from the USA.
Both a government led by Harris and Trump would “tell us Europeans: Take a little more care of yourself. Take a little more responsibility for yourself.” With Joe Biden we probably saw the last president in the White House who looked more economically at the transatlantic region, said Merz.