Skip next section How will Germany deal with Trump? February 9, 2025
How will Germany deal with Trump? Moderators pointed to US President Donald Trump often erratic behavior in office, then asked Merz if he still believed the US president was “predictable,” as he had said in the past.
“Well, he is predictably unpredictable,” Merz replied.
“It’s important for us, on this side of the Atlantic, to be united,” he said. He noted how Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was “very concerned” by Trump’s comments on Greenland, and said he’d discussed this with her last week.
“We need a joint European strategy,” Merz said.
He said that Europe together was a more populous area than the US, with comparable economic strength, and that if maintaining a united front, it should be possible to reach amicable and mutually beneficial agreements.
Scholz, meanwhile,said he would deal with Trump the same as he did in the past.
“The strategy I’ve already used, clear words and friendly conversations,” he said.
He stressed Germany’s desire to work with the US, but said “we mustn’t kid ourselves.”
“What the US president says, he means,” Scholz said, adding he believed it was important to stand up to Trump. Scholz also said he was the first European leader to say that proposing a takeover of Greenland was out of order.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qF2Z
Skip next section DW Fact check: Has there never been a three-year recession in Germany?February 9, 2025
DW Fact check: Has there never been a three-year recession in Germany?The claim: Friedrich Merz said “we are in the third year of a recession. This has never happened before in Germany”
The facts: Helena Melnikov, managing director at the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in an analysis published in January that three consecutive years without growth would be a first since World War II.
“This… shows the historic challenge that politics and business are facing together,” she said.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) echoed the sentiment in its predictions for the German economy in 2025.
A look at historical data published by Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) backs this information.
The state of the German economy is one of the main topics of the current political campaign.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qF2b
Skip next section How to protect Ukraine? Should it join NATO?February 9, 2025
How to protect Ukraine? Should it join NATO?Both Scholz and Merz voiced hope for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine amid Donald Trump taking charge in the US.
Scholz said it “remains to be seen” if peace can be achieved in Ukraine after US President Donald Trump took office.
“It would be very good if this war were to end,” he said.
Scholz defended his stance on not providing longer-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, saying this was a step Germany should not support. He accused Merz of flip-flopping on the issue, previously supporting the idea, though Merz disputed this.
Asked if Ukraine should join NATO, Merz said “they can’t do that.”
“Because NATO doesn’t accept members who are currently in a war,” Merz said. At the same time, he said giving Ukraine EU candidate status was the “right thing to do,” and indicated that entering the European Union would give Ukraine “significantly more security.” He made no reference to the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO after the war is over.
Scholz said Ukrainian membership in NATO wasn’t “happening any time soon” as the US had rejected the proposal.
Trump and Putin: A deal at Ukraine’s expense?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/4qF2S
Skip next section Scholz: ‘If you earn 3 million you can pay a bit more in taxes’February 9, 2025
Scholz: ‘If you earn 3 million you can pay a bit more in taxes’Both Merz, who spent decades in business and banking during his political timeout, and former Finance Minister Scholz fancy themselves as economic specialists.
Merz argued that lower taxes would spur growth rather than scare people away to tax havens like Switzerland, and would leave the government better off than if it taxed too aggressively.
The conservative politician said that income tax is “not only paid by the rich.”
“It is also being paid by individual business people, retailers, companies,” he said. “It is being paid by hundreds of thousands of companies who pay income taxes instead of corporation taxes.”
But Scholz retorted by saying that both he and Merz should both pay more taxes.
“People earn even more than you and me should also pay more taxes,” he said, addressing Merz. “I’m just saying if you earn 3 million you can pay a bit more in taxes, and you don’t think that’s true, and that’s the difference between us.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qF0U
Skip next section Scholz points to his government raising minimum wageFebruary 9, 2025
Scholz points to his government raising minimum wage Scholz called for Germany to implement a €15 ($15.5) minimum wage.
He said that he was “proud” of his government’s measure to raise the minimum wage to €12 in 2022.
“So many people earned so little,” he said, adding that the “low-wage sector” had “shrunk” under his government.
Merz said that Scholz had promised that the minimum wage hike to €12 would be a “one-off” decision.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qF2R
Skip next section ‘Trump’s plan for Gaza, what do you make of that?’February 9, 2025
‘Trump’s plan for Gaza, what do you make of that?’The two politicians also broadly agreed on the rejection of Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to take over and redevelop Gaza.
Scholz described US President Donald Trump’s plan to turn the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East” as a “scandal” given the extent of destruction and suffering there.
“This goes against international law, it’s shocking,” he said.
Merz said that he agreed. However, he cautioned that the proposal was one of several “irritating” ideas floated by the returning US president where “we have to wait and see what is being meant seriously.”
He said it could prove wise to exercise patience as Trump’s new terms continues.
Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza sparks global backlashTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEtv
Skip next section What about Germany’s notoriously unreliable rail operator?February 9, 2025
What about Germany’s notoriously unreliable rail operator? Chancellor Scholz said that his government had freed up “billions” to improve Germany’s rail network and the Deutsche Bahn national railway company.
“We are going to renovate all of it,” he said.
Merz said that the rail grid needed to remain in government hands, but “competition” could also operate on the rail network.
Scholz accused Merz of wanting to “take apart” Deutsche Bahn and privatize it.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEzh
Skip next section Where do candidates stand on taxes?February 9, 2025
Where do candidates stand on taxes?Merz criticized Scholz’s planned 10% tax incentive, saying that the SPD was implementing policies of “higher debt, higher expenditure.”
He said that the plan would be a “flash in the pan that [would] cost a lot of money.”
Scholz said he was against Merz’s proposal of “tax reductions for all,” saying Berlin didn’t have the budget for it.
“This goes against the overwhelming majority of our citizens,” he said.
“If a company, according to the [Merz’s] suggestion … pays slightly less tax and then they invest abroad, we have gained nothing,” he said. Scholz said the tax burden should be eased for lower earners, including dropping the VAT on food.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEtw
Skip next section ‘What’s going to happen if we have a Bundestag without the FDP?’February 9, 2025
‘What’s going to happen if we have a Bundestag without the FDP?’A simple enough question, put to both leaders.
What if the struggling neoliberal FDP led by Christian Lindner misses the 5% hurdle needed to guarantee parliamentary representation?
“[The parliament] would be poorer, but viable,” Merz said.
Scholz smiled, and said that he agreed.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEtm
Skip next section Merz questions why Germany’s recovery slow by European standardsFebruary 9, 2025
Merz questions why Germany’s recovery slow by European standardsMerz tried to hit Scholz on the economy again by questioning why Germany was performing worse than many comparable developed Western countries.
Scholz retorted that this was largely because Germany, a highly industrialized European power, is more vulnerable to resource and energy prices than many other countries.
“We are the country with the second highest industrial density among all [in the G7 group of major industrial countries],” he said.
Merz responded that Germany’s shutting down of its nuclear power plants had further exacerbated this issue and added pressure on energy prices domestically.
Scholz meanwhile claimed the nuclear power plants constituted “0.02%” of Germany’s GDP.
The left-leaning chancellor also went on to point out that the decision to decommission the nuclear plants ultimately traced its roots back to his predecessor Angela Merkel of Merz’s CDU.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEtf
Skip next section Sluggish German economy next on the docketFebruary 9, 2025
Sluggish German economy next on the docketModerators moved on in the end to Germany’s constant flirtation with mild recession in the past three years, asking Olaf Scholz if Germany was goint through deindustrialization.
“The mood is bad, I would agree,” Scholz said. However, he disputed the deindustrialization argument.
“We have a huge number of people in gainful employment,” he stressed.
The incumbent chancellor said inflation was down after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and an unsteady ship had been stabilized, but that more needed to be done going forward.
Merz disputed this, pointing to jobs and businesses relocating to other countries.
“And these jobs and money is gone for good, it’s never going to return,” Merz said. He argued Scholz’s assessment had had “nothing to do with the reality.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEte
Skip next section Immigration and repatriation dominating opening phaseFebruary 9, 2025
Immigration and repatriation dominating opening phaseThe debate moderator and the two lead candidates have focused the early stages of the debate on migration.
Some 15 minutes into the debate, the main issues under discussion have been either people entering or leaving Germany, or the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Scholz called for Germany to build more “deportation centers.”
He said that he had implemented such policies when he served as the mayor of Hamburg.
Scholz said that he “ensured that more people can be in detention custody,” adding that “legal loopholes” had been closed.
Merz said that Scholz’s arguments that he had implemented sufficient migration reforms was a “fairytale.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEtb
Skip next section Merz says government too sluggish on irregular migration February 9, 2025
Merz says government too sluggish on irregular migration Merz acknowledged that the Scholz government “has not stood idle” on tackling irregular migration.
However, he said that the numbers of deportations were still too low compared to the numbers of people illegally entering the country. Merz claimed the difference over the past three years constituted several times the population of Hanover.
Scholz, meanwhile, countered that “there have never been tougher laws” than those his coalition implemented in recent years, saying improved figures in January demonstrated this. The chancellor predicted that the reduced rates would continue through 2025.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEok
Skip next section Scholz opens questioning Merz’s pledge to shun AfDFebruary 9, 2025
Scholz opens questioning Merz’s pledge to shun AfDChancellor Olaf Scholz was first asked about his doubts on Friedrich Merz’s pledge to work with the far-right AfD.
Scholz said that this had become a concern of his in light of the attempted migration reform proposal in parliament.
Merz, meanwhile, reiterated his party would not cooperate with the AfD, saying they had major differences on core issues including NATO and the EU.
He also disputed the notion that last week’s push to change the migration law with the AfD votes constituted “cooperation” with the party.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEoj
Skip next section The Scholz-Merz debate startsFebruary 9, 2025
The Scholz-Merz debate startsThe two chancellor candidates have taken to the stage and the debate is underway. You can watch the DW stream in the window above.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qEhT
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