{"id":585940,"date":"2026-05-15T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/585940\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:32:09","slug":"german-leader-merz-says-he-would-not-advise-my-children-to-go-to-us-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/585940\/","title":{"rendered":"German leader Merz says he \u2018would not advise my children to go\u2019 to US | Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friedrich Merz<\/a>, the German chancellor, already embroiled in a row with Donald Trump over the Iran war, has said he would not advise his children to study or work in the US in the current climate.<\/p>\n

Speaking to a conference of young Catholics in W\u00fcrzburg, the conservative leader, viewed by many as a transatlanticist, said he no longer saw the US as the land of opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a great admirer of America. At the moment my admiration is not growing,\u201d he said during a podium discussion, citing the quickly changing \u201csocial climate\u201d in the deeply polarised country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not advise my children today to go to the US, get educated there or work there, simply because a certain social climate has suddenly developed there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 70-year-old father of three continued: \u201cToday, even the best-educated people in America are finding it very hard to get a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about his own country, Merz urged Germans not to fall into a \u201cdisaster mode\u201d about the state of the world and encouraged them to feel more optimistic about their homeland\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI firmly believe that there are few countries in the world that offer such great opportunities, especially for young people, as Germany<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The remarks about the US immediately drew a furious response from Trump\u2019s camp. Richard Grenell<\/a>, a longtime Republican foreign policy adviser who served as ambassador to Germany during Trump\u2019s first term, posted on X: \u201c@_FriedrichMerz has become the European President of the TDS Society,\u201d referring to so-called Trump derangement syndrome.<\/p>\n

He said that when Merz met Trump at the White House, most recently in March<\/a>, he was \u201ccompletely soft and complimentary\u201d, and said Friday\u2019s comments contradicted that conciliatory approach. \u201cGermans have a leader who has no strategy \u2013 and is completely controlled by the German woke media,\u201d Grenell said.<\/p>\n

The German far-right leader Alice Weidel<\/a>, whose anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland party has been supported by members of Trump\u2019s Maga movement<\/a>, also commented on the chancellor\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerz advises against travelling to the US due to the \u2018political climate\u2019. Ironically, it is a chancellor who is deliberately leading his own country towards social and economic ruin who is now pointing the finger in warning,\u201d she wrote on social media. \u201cThis is not in Germany\u2019s interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disputes over trade and military aid for Ukraine have fuelled tensions between the US and its European allies and tested the Nato alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Merz is struggling to revive an anaemic German economy and has said the impact of the US-Israeli military action in Iran and the ensuing closure of the strait of Hormuz<\/a> has been severely damaging to European interests.<\/p>\n

Late last month he stunned listeners in Germany as well as the US with blunt comments stating that the Americans were being \u201chumiliated\u201d by Iran\u2019s leadership<\/a> in the current conflict, angering Trump.<\/p>\n

Days later, Washington announced a partial troop withdrawal<\/a> from Germany, where it has about 36,000 military service members, and tariff hikes on cars<\/a> imported from the EU, a sector crucial to the German economy.<\/p>\n

Merz, whose popularity ratings are plumbing record depths<\/a> in German polls, has since then said he was \u201cnot giving up<\/a> on working on the transatlantic relationship\u201d, while declining opportunities to retract his criticism of Trump.<\/p>\n

On Friday he posted on X that he had spoken with Trump by telephone while the US president was travelling home from China<\/a> and that they had discussed Iran, Ukraine and the upcoming Nato summit in Ankara. \u201cThe US and Germany are strong partners in a strong Nato,\u201d Merz said.<\/p>\n