Germany’s Angela Merkel Laments Trump’s Win Left Her Feeling ‘Sad’
Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is lamenting President-elect Donald Trump’s runaway win in the 2024 election race left her feeling “sad.”
In an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel published on Friday – and first reported by Reuters ahead of the release of her memoir – Merkel said his victory had tugged at her heart strings.
“If someone in politics does not allow for win-win situations, but only ever recognises winners and losers, then that is a very difficult task for multilateralism,” she said while explaining to Spiegel how his victory had filled her with sadness, continuing a line of criticism that goes all the way back to when Trump first gained office back in 2016.
Merkel said the job of politics was ultimately to balance the interests of ordinary and powerful citizens which is why she has called the closeness of tech billionaires such as Elon Musk with Trump a “huge concern.”
“If this ultimate recourse is influenced too strongly by companies, whether through capital power or technological capabilities, then that is an unprecedented challenge for all of us,” she said.
According to the Reuters report she cited the example of Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, who was tapped by Trump to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency that the incoming president has indicated will challenge the very confines of government.
“If a person like him [Musk] owns 60% of all satellites orbiting in space, then that has to be a huge concern for us in addition to the political issues,” the septuagenarian said.
Merkel’s memoir, entitled Freedom: Memories 1954-2021 and written before Trump’s re-election, will be published in more than 30 countries on Nov. 26.
The tome will launch in December in the United States at an event with former U.S. President Barack Obama.
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