Scholz Steps Up Criticism of Trump’s Expansionist Rhetoric

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(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz intensified his criticism of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump over border safety during a lively speech aimed at galvanizing the Social Democrats ahead of next month’s federal election.

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Scholz’s main rivals for the leadership of Germany, Friedrich Merz and Alice Weidel, also spoke on Saturday at their party meetings as campaigning intensified.

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Schulz’s Social Democratic Party has been in power since 2021 as a prominent member of a three-party coalition that no longer exists, with early elections for Europe’s largest economy approaching on February 23.

At a party conference in Berlin, the German Chancellor spoke of the unstable times ahead in relations with Washington, and also pointed to the rise of the far right in neighboring Austria. He said both developments show that there is a lot at stake for Germany.

“These are the times when people dream of tearing everything into pieces with a chainsaw — democracy, the welfare state, equal rights,” Schultz said. “Times when certain forces in America are also working very specifically to destroy our democratic institutions in the West.”

On Saturday, the Social Democratic Party conference officially nominated Schulz as its best candidate and adopted the party’s electoral program.

Schulz, 66, said Trump’s recent expansionist rhetoric against Greenland and Canada, as well as the Panama Canal, worries him.

“The principle of the inviolability of borders applies to every country,” Schulz said to loud applause. “No country is another country’s backyard. No small country should fear its big neighbor. This is the essence of what we call Western values ​​– our values!”

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His conservative rival, Merz of the Christian Democratic Union, said the rebuke would not bother Trump and that Germany should instead focus on restoring its economic and military strength.

Merz, 69, told reporters after the CDU leadership meeting in Hamburg, “Frankly, I cannot imagine that the American president was in any way impressed by the German Chancellor’s four-minute press statement.” “Public finger-waving by Germany has never made any impression on America, and usually has the opposite effect.”

Mears added that he is not looking at Trump’s inauguration on January 20 “like a rabbit looking at a snake.”

Schultz attacked conservative plans to reduce the corporate tax rate, which he said would come at the expense of the working class.

“Who will pay the bill? I’m telling you: the bill will be paid by the ordinary people of this country.” “They will have to accept bitter cuts in pensions and public welfare.”

However, Merz defended his party’s proposals, saying that reviving economic growth would lead to higher tax revenues, despite a lower income tax. He said a 40% corporate tax in a declining economy would bring in less profits than a 25% corporate tax in a growing economy.

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The chancellor had sparked early elections by sacking his finance minister in early November over a dispute over further government spending financed by debt to Ukraine, effectively depriving himself of a majority in the lower house of parliament.

Less than six weeks before the vote, Merz’s party achieved a comfortable lead in the opinion polls, with the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party in second place, while Schulz’s Social Democratic Party came in third place.

The center-right bloc, the CDU/CSU, has about 31% support, according to the latest Bloomberg poll average, with the AfD on about 20%, the Social Democrats on 17%, and the Greens on 12%. % in fourth place.

However, a new poll by public broadcaster ZDF showed the Social Democrats falling to fourth place, behind the Greens.

The election campaign took an unexpected turn recently when Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a major Trump donor and ally, ran on behalf of the AfD party. On his social media platform

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On Thursday, Musk spoke at length with AfD candidate Weidel on Channel X, in what amounts to free advertising with the potential to reach millions of voters.

Since its founding in 2013, the AfD has gradually moved towards the far right, gaining support among voters disillusioned with the mainstream parties, especially in Germany’s former communist eastern regions.

The Alternative for Germany party officially nominated Weidel to be the party’s candidate for the position of Chancellor at a conference held in the town of Riesa in the state of Saxony, northwest of Dresden. The meeting began about two hours late amid massive protests against the right-wing party. About 10,000 demonstrators tried to prevent delegates from reaching the conference venue.

In her speech, Weidel called for a complete closure of Germany’s borders and promised to deport people who entered illegally. The 45-year-old said there would be a “clear message to the whole world.” Party co-leader Tino Shrubala described Weidel as a “future chancellor.”

The AfD also calls for Germany’s exit from the European Union and the eurozone, steps that would end decades of political and economic integration.

– With assistance from Angela Cullen.

(Updates with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel in second-to-last paragraph)

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