Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 21, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Friedrich Merz criticizes a leaked briefing by Germany's US ambassador, calling it damaging to Germany's reputation and foreign policy.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Friedrich Merz, the leading candidate for the chancellery in Germany's upcoming election, said a leaked briefing by Germany's ambassador to the United States heavily criticising Donald Trump was damaging to the German government's reputation.
Reuters exclusively reported on Saturday details from the briefing by Ambassador Andreas Michaelis, dated Jan. 14, which said Trump's agenda would undermine basic democratic principles, rob law enforcement and the media of their independence, and empower tech firms.
Any requests for dialogue with the administration by the current German government would likely now be rejected, Merz told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio on Tuesday.
“This message from Washington is written in the language of a political activist. And it has obviously been deliberately made public,” Merz added, deeming the leaking a serious mistake for German foreign policy.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
The main topic is Friedrich Merz's criticism of a leaked briefing by Germany's US ambassador about Donald Trump.
The briefing criticized Trump's agenda as undermining democracy and media independence.
The leak is significant because it could damage Germany's foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the US.
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