Friedrich Merz always wanted to be chancellor but he’s too tactless to turn Germany around

You have to give German chancellor Friedrich Merz some credit for his honesty. This week he admitted that he had “no authority” to convince his own party to back his policies. And just last month he angered the White House by saying that US president Donald Trump was being “humiliated” in Iran. Both things might be true but one year into his tenure, neither comment will win him any friends or favours. 
 
At the helm of a teetering centrist coalition, Merz had little to celebrate during his anniversary in office this week. He might just be the Western world’s least popular leader, with approval ratings hovering at about 20 per cent, well below Donald Trump and on par with lame duck French president Emmanuel Macron and scandal-plagued UK prime minister Keir Starmer. Germany’s economy is stagnant and Merz’s relationship with Trump is in tatters. The US withdrew 5,000 of its troops from Germany this week – as it turns out, telling a narcissist that he has been humiliated is not shrewd diplomacy.

Domestically, Merz has very little to show for his first year in office: coalition infighting has delayed an ambitious health-and-welfare reform bill that was meant to be the administration’s headline act. Things started off well – major chunks of his electoral platform were approved before he even came into power, allowing an expenditure increase for infrastructure and defence, but it took his government until November to pass a budget that allowed it to start spending the money. That cash could help boost Germany’s economy before the year’s out, though Merz’s approval ratings will continue to plummet in the meantime. “It’s partly because he cannot show any progress, which he promised wholeheartedly,” says Annette Dittert, senior correspondent for Germany’s public broadcaster ARD. “But then it’s also very personal,” she adds, pointing to Merz’s “strange, erratic, capricious and jumpy” leadership style.
 
Maybe Merz was never really cut out for the job to begin with – he just doesn’t have the temperament. For a man who has wanted to lead Germany all his life, that will be a hard realisation to have. But Merz’s problem is about more than just his personality: he leads a fractious right-left coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, two parties that are traditionally at ideological odds. Despite some big promises, his administration has also been plagued by indecision. “Reform should have been done much earlier,” says Carsten Brzeski, chief economist of ING Germany. “If you’re an incoming government – think of Roosevelt or even Trump – it’s about the first 100 days.” 
 
Europe needs competent leadership that stands up to adversaries in Moscow and Beijing, as well as those in the White House. Doing so takes panache. Merz’s willingness to “tell it like it is” might be refreshing but it’s often tactless. Perhaps he could take a page out of Mark Carney’s book to smooth over his rougher edges and offer a more consistent message? For all his faults, however, the chancellor ensured that Germany was Europe’s biggest military spender in 2025 – and the country could yet become the continent’s leading military power in the next decade. 
 
Merz needs to use his penchant for straight-talking to prepare the German public for the challenges ahead and win over his reluctant party. Many of his coalition’s ideas aren’t bad, they’re just taking too long to implement. Unlike some of his European colleagues, he should have the luxury of another 100 days – and he must use them wisely.