German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: These tariffs are 'threatening our economy'

📅 Jun 05, 2025 Fox News Clips 8 MIN 438674 VIEWS 23 SEGMENTS · 2 SPEAKERS

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discusses trade negotiations with the United States and Elon Musk's involvement in German politics on 'Special Report.' #trump #foxnews #germany #tariffs #usa #elonmusk Subscribe to Fox News! https://bit.ly/2vBUvAS Watch more Fox News Video: http://video.foxnews.com Watch Fox News Channel Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/ FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most-watched television news channel for 18 consecutive years...

Questions asked in this interview

0:12What's your response to his assessment?
1:51What would you say to him?
2:17It's tyranny in disguise.' Did you get a chance today to speak with the Secretary or even the Vice President about this?
2:54What are you doing to combat anti-Semitism at home?
4:11Did you have any advice for the President on that?
5:00Axios is reporting that the President called this attack, quote, 'strong' and, quote, 'bad ass.' Do you agree with him?
6:31Does it complicate talks, peace talks, if President Trump is calling these attacks these words, 'strong'?
7:08The President often likes to say this war would never have happened had he been in the White House. Do you agree with that?

Aishah 0:07 ↗

Friedrich Merz, joining us now in studio. Welcome to Washington and welcome to the program.

Friedrich Merz 0:11 ↗

Thank you.

Aishah 0:12 ↗

A lot to get to. Thank you for making the time. Fresh off the heels of a big meeting at the Oval Office. I want to get to Ed just mentioned here. I'm sure you have been briefed by now on this public spat that the President is having currently with Elon Musk. I bring it up because Musk just criticized the Trump tariffs, which are being criticized by many countries around the world right now. He said this: the Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year. What's your response to his assessment?

Friedrich Merz 0:44 ↗

Well, this is a domestic debate in the U.S. I don't want to comment on that. But these tariffs are, in our view, something which is really threatening our economy, and we are looking for ways to bring them down. And our conviction is that free trade, open markets, is the best thing for mutual wealth of our countries and of our continent. So this is an issue that has to be negotiated between the American government and the European Commission. We are part of Europe, so we are in the discussion. But I have my view on that: we should bring them down.

Aishah 1:20 ↗

I have one more question on Elon Musk because he really does have a global footprint and gets his hands into a lot of different things, including elections like yours in Germany. He very much supported publicly this far-right AfD party, which Germany just labeled as an extremist political group. It got some criticism from Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. I imagine you are not going to tweet at Elon Musk or any...

Friedrich Merz 1:49 ↗

No, I won't.

Aishah 1:51 ↗

...or any of the two other gentlemen. What would you say to him?

Friedrich Merz 1:53 ↗

The message is clear: Germany is a democracy. We owe Americans a lot after the Second World War. We have proof we are a stable democracy. We have free speech; everybody can stand for parliament. We don't need any lectures from outside. We are doing our own things.

Aishah 2:17 ↗

This is what Marco Rubio said on X not too long ago: 'Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That's not democracy. It's tyranny in disguise.' Did you get a chance today to speak with the Secretary or even the Vice President about this?

Friedrich Merz 2:33 ↗

Surprisingly enough, we didn't talk about that.

Aishah 2:37 ↗

Okay.

12 more exchanges in this transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX

APA

Merz, F. (2025, June 5). German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: These tariffs are 'threatening our economy' [Interview transcript]. Fox News Clips. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2956638/

MLA

Friedrich Merz. "German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: These tariffs are 'threatening our economy'." Fox News Clips, 5 Jun. 2025. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2956638/.

BibTeX

@misc{merz2025_2956638,
  author       = {Friedrich Merz},
  title        = {German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: These tariffs are 'threatening our economy'},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Fox News Clips. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2025},
  month        = {jun},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2956638/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}

▶

Key Quotes (2)

“These tariffs are, in our view, something which is really threatening our economy, and we are looking for ways to bring them down and our conviction is that free trade open markets is the best thing for mutual wealth of our countries and of our continent. So this is an issue that has to be negotiated between the American government and the European Commission. We are part of Europe. So we are in t”

▶ 0:50 CONTROVERSIAL POLICY

“The country, Ukraine is the victim of a very hard aggression Russia has in its hands to stop overnight. That's the reason I ask the President to go along with us to put more pressure on this government. On Putin. To come to an end with this terrible war. I was a little more optimistic a couple weeks ago when the first diplomatic initiatives were more or less successful. In the meantime it's extrem”

▶ 5:32

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About Friedrich Merz

Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany, addressed the annual review meeting of the Made for Germany initiative in Berlin on September 30, 2026. He noted that the initiative, which includes 147 companies and investors, plans to invest over €850 billion in Germany through 2028. Merz described these commitments as economically and strategically important for Germany as a business location and as a signal to employees and young people that investing in Germany is worthwhile. He acknowledged that economic growth is projected at 1.3% for the year, attributing this partly to political decisions and debt-financed investments, while stating that forecasts for 2027 and 2028 are slightly downward and require substantial reforms. During the Bundestag's first debate on the proposed 2027 federal budget on September 8-9, 2026, Merz defended his government's economic priorities and spending plans while confronting opposition leaders. In exchanges with AfD leader Alice Weidel, he accused the party of seeking to destabilise Germany and of siding with Russia, stating that continued support for Ukraine is necessary because it defends European freedom. He also described the AfD's "remigration" policy as a synonym for ethnic cleansing by origin and skin color, arguing that such a policy would cripple skilled trades, nursing homes, hospitals, and restaurants in Germany. Merz additionally called for renewing the "prosperity promise" of the market economy for younger generations, citing doubts among them about future prospects.

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