Seldom has a German top politician expressed himself so sharply against the USA.
The government in Washington is "indifferent" to Europe's fate. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are no better than Russia in their "shameless" attempts at electoral influence. Europe should make itself independent of American protection as soon as possible.
The statements after the election victory in February testified to the serious situation - but also revealed Friedrich Merz's power ambitions.
Dedicated aviation enthusiast
The 69-year-old Christian Democrat, raised in a Catholic home in Sauerland, trained as a lawyer, just like his father, and joined the CDU as a teenager. He is a dedicated aviation enthusiast and owns a private plane, which he likes to travel with between his hometown Arnsberg and Berlin. He sits behind the controls himself.
In the early 2000s, Merz became the group leader for the Christian Democrats in the Bundestag, but the cooperation with the newly elected party leader Angela Merkel cracked. The conflict came to a head in 2002, when Merkel, with the support of the Bavarian CSU, dismissed Merz from the post, something he could never forgive.
In 2009, Merz left politics to work in business, including for the American capital manager Blackrock. In 2022, he took over as party leader for the CDU, after having tried to be elected both in 2018 and 2020.
Promises forward-looking Germany
Now the Merkel era is definitely history. Much of what "Mutti" stood for - a reactive leadership style, generous migration policy, and not least trust in peaceful coexistence with Russia - has become passé. The charismatic, combative, and somewhat arrogant Merz has thus finally got his definitive revenge, albeit only after having failed miserably to be elected by the Bundestag in a first vote.
With the bureaucratic Olaf Scholz in power, France's Emmanuel Macron has often been able to speak for Europe unchallenged. Now, it may change - Merz promises a much more forward-looking Germany, both politically and militarily.
The latter will cost money. Enormous amounts of money, to be scraped together through gigantic loans.
Golf - an advantage
The biggest challenge still lies in the relationship with the USA and Donald Trump, who never had much personal chemistry with either Merkel or Scholz. The conservative businessman Merz, a lifelong USA friend, may have greater success.
But perhaps it's not the new Chancellor's merits in business that will be the biggest "icebreaker".
That Merz plays golf is an advantage, noted his former security adviser John Bolton in an interview with Die Zeit earlier this year.
