Merz and Klingbeil: Quality time in the heath

 

Merz and Klingbeil: Quality time in the heath

By Hans von der Burchard

April 30, 2026 7:00 am CET

 

Berlin Playbook

Von HANS VON DER BURCHARD

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/berlin-playbook/merz-und-klingbeil-quality-time-in-der-heide/

With MAXIMILIAN STASCHEIT

 

Moin Berlin. Hans von der Burchard writes here.

 

It was considered a minimum expectation, but the first big step has been taken in health and budget. Now Friedrich Merz and Lars Klingbeil want to try a new beginning and defy the prophecies of doom of an imminent coalition breakup. More on that in a moment.

 

Meanwhile, Günter Sautter and other top diplomats are looking spellbound at Washington and Tehran. Will the missiles soon fly again after today's end of King Charles' US state visit? Or will Trump tighten his naval blockade? Gordon also talks about this with Anne McElvoy in the Playbook Podcast.

 

Also in today's playbook: Donald Trump is considering a troop reduction in Germany, the Left Party is wrestling with its course, Nina Warken is speaking in Thuringia, and the Mercosur agreement is coming into force.

 

PAGE ONE

FRIEDRICH AND LARS: Yesterday evening, 7:45 p.m. at the Forellenhof in Walsrode in the Heidekreis. The SPD leader has invited the CDU chairman to dinner in his constituency: a toast to the first reform hurdles that have been overcome, but above all an open debate on what is not going on in the coalition — and with the two.

 

A bit of peace at the trout pond: In the Instagram video, the two are harmonious. Klingbeil leads the chancellor across the grounds, who praises: "Very nice." Here, a counter-narrative to the current pessimistic mood is to be set.

 

The location is no coincidence. The Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor are also spending this morning together — about 50 kilometers further east at the Munster military training area, where the army is demonstrating its operational capabilities (Merz, who served in contrast to Klingbeil, also knows from Norway).

 

So a lot of quality time in the heath, and that's what it needs. Next week, the black-red coalition will celebrate its first anniversary (or will it reach it with difficulty?), but the trusting closeness between Merz and Klingbeil has been missing recently. Quite different from a year ago, when the two were suddenly on a first-name basis during the coalition negotiations at the end of March 2025.

 

And now? They make a name for themselves with yelling instead of team play. Already last fall, Merz warned the Union parliamentary group to be careful with criticism of the vice chancellor: He was "very sensitive." It was only moderately well received by the latter.

 

Klingbeil is trying to defuse the situation: "My relationship of trust with the Chancellor is unrestricted," he said yesterday. It is "completely okay" that coalition partners have different positions and discuss passionately - especially in such times of crisis. "I wouldn't overestimate such things at all."

 

Merz also plays it down: "I'm not yelling at anyone," said the chancellor. There are "of course also discussions from time to time, including contentious discussions."

 

But another story is being circulated anonymously: Doubts about the coalition (and the chancellor) are said to be growing in Merz's environment, Paul Ronzheimer and Filip Piatov report.

 

Close associates would perceive Merz as erratic and easily influenced, and there would be conflicts with confidants such as Thorsten Frei. Internally, the vote of confidence is already being considered.

 

The polls fuel the nervousness: After all, the AfD is already at 27 percent in Forsa — five percentage points ahead of the CDU/CSU. This puts the opposition leader dangerously close to 30 percent and threatens to leave the Union behind. And this before the important elections in autumn.

 

Merz knows: The citizens want action, not dispute. "The next reform will follow in just a few weeks, namely the reform of social long-term care insurance. Then the reform of the statutory pension insurance will follow in the summer and a tax reform over the turn of the year," he said yesterday during his visit to East Frisia.

 

Speaking of reform announcements: In the Spiegel interview, Merz tries to gloss over the fact that he looked a bit bad when Klingbeil gave his big reform speech at Bertelsmann. "I knew that he was giving this speech, and I was happy to leave it to him after the election result in Rhineland-Palatinate, which was difficult for him."

 

On the other hand, there is criticism of this interview statement: "No chancellor before me has had to endure something like this."

 

Too much self-pity? Too much frustration about Donald Trump's Iran war, which is destroying all the economic upswing that Merz would have so urgently needed? Isabel Cademartori recalls that Olaf Scholz "did not preach crying".

 

It is always these impulsive statements that slip out of Merz (and with which he has a certain similarity to Trump in this respect), but which have just gotten him into real trouble with the US president.

 

Latest development: "The US is currently examining and evaluating a possible reduction in the troop presence in Germany," Trump wrote in the evening. "A decision is to be made shortly."

 

What hurdles make the idea doubtful — today in our US newsletter DC Decoded.

 

Merz praises in Der Spiegel: "I can indeed get even better there." This afternoon comes the first exam: After the troop visit in Munster, he travels to the pretty Hanseatic city of Salzwedel, where he answers questions from citizens on the "Day of Local Journalism".

 

This date is then without a Klingbeil. But before the two say goodbye in Münster, Merz would still have the opportunity for a gesture on his part: to invite the vice chancellor to the Sauerland.

 

TRANSATLANTIC

MARKETS REACT TO TRUMP THREAT: Brent oil reached its highest price since 2022 at over $119 last night, after Trump had previously posted an AI picture of himself with a gun in his hand and the words "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY" on Truth Social. He wrote that Iran should "better come to its senses soon".

 

UNUSUALLY POLITICAL: King Charles spoke more clearly than usual during his state visit to Washington, Anne McElvoy analyzes in the Playbook Podcast. Instead of the usual restraint, he named the challenges for democracies and asked the question of "how we act now" – without directly attacking Trump.

 

Much applause: This is well received in Washington, even across party lines. The decisive factor is whether Trump actually makes adjustments on Ukraine or trade — or whether the visit ends up being just "for the souvenir cabinet," McElvoy said.

 

BENDLERBLOCK

EMBRACE ATTEMPT: Despite the palpable political alienation between Germany and the USA, military proximity is to grow. As our colleagues Ibrahim Naber and Paul McLeary report, the Bundeswehr will bring a US colonel directly into the Army Command from October.

 

So much closeness is unusual even for exchange programs: Army Inspector Christian Freuding speaks of "mutual, deep trust." Read more here.

 

NO EXTRA MONEY FOR THE PORTS: Boris Pistorius is speaking today (virtually) at the maritime conference in Emden. There, the seaports are campaigning for more federal funds and emphasising their national importance: not only for the economy, but also for Germany's security.

 

Why the Chancellor rejected the request for more money yesterday for the time being, you can read today in Pro Industrie & Handel.

 

PARTIES

QUESTION MARKS AT THE LEFT PARTY: The party is bursting with strength nationwide with twelve percent in Forsa (on a par with the SPD) — but is at odds with its power-political orientation.

 

With reservations: Taking responsibility can "mean governing, but that can also mean rejecting a rotten compromise," Ines Schwerdtner explained at the Berlin party conference last week.

 

In Berlin, on the other hand, mayoral candidate Elif Eralp wants to govern at all costs: She is starting the election campaign with a packed program from the luxury villa tax to the "property question".

 

In Baden-Württemberg, where the Left Party failed to reach the five percent, the party decides to commit to the radical opposition. Compromises with "pro-capitalist parties" emptied the core, according to the resolution. The applicant was the Left Youth, which has recently attracted attention with anti-Israel resolutions.

 

This is given weight by personnel: Luigi Pantisano, candidate to succeed party co-leader Jan van Aken, comes from Baden-Württemberg. He is concerned with "content instead of ministerial posts".

 

In the east, the situation is different: In Saxony, the Left Party is in opposition – but has a say in the decision. The background is the minority government under Kretschmer, which organizes majorities without the AfD and relies on a "consultation mechanism" with the Greens, the Left and BSW.

 

And then there is Saxony. Before the election in September, the Left Party is relying on case-by-case cooperation, also with the CDU. My world colleague Kevin Culina reports more on this here.

 

BAND OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

FROM THE CABINET TO THE PROVINCES: Following the presentation of her statutory health insurance reform, Nina Warken travelled to the Thuringian village of Mechterstädt yesterday. The minister had invited to a citizens' dialogue there, our world colleague Jan Alexander Casper was there.

 

Admittedly: "24 hours ago, I wasn't quite sure how the day would go today," said Warken. It was a "short night", "also for the employees".

 

In the lion's den: She knows that the austerity package is "terrible" for those present, Warken said in view of the many nurses in the audience. But the care budget and tariff refinancing were "things" that "you can do if you have money in the system". Now, however, it is "simply no longer possible".

 

PHISHING TRIP: The Ministry of Economic Affairs has confirmed at the request of Josh Groeneveld that employee data was stolen by the signal phishing attacks. However, the ministry does not want to name the number of those affected.

 

Safety first: The recommendations of the BSI and other responsible security bodies would be taken into account and implemented in the ministry, it added. "Accompanying this, awareness of the issue has been taking place within the house since the beginning of the attacks."

 

GROUP LEVEL

TINKERED WITH YOUR CV? AfD MP Heinrich Koch makes several misleading statements about his Bundeswehr career in his CV on his own as well as the Bundestag website and on his social media channels, reports our Welt colleague Frederik Schindler.

 

According to this, his statements suggest decades of active service as well as continuous military activity in the Bundeswehr — but the reality is somewhat different.

 

Frederik and Pauline von Pezold discuss what he has to say in his defense in the current episode of Inside AfD.

 

COUNTRY POINTS

WEGNER CRASH: In a new Infratest poll, the Berlin CDU loses more than 9 percent and with 19 percent is only just ahead of the Greens, the Left and the AfD, all of which come to 18 percent. Quite far behind in 5th place: the SPD.

 

The federal government is to blame: Similar to NRW, the Social Democrats apparently see the reason for this in federal politics. "I'm losing trust right now," says mayoral candidate Steffen Krach in the Playbook Podcast. This is "very dangerous" in view of rising AfD ratings.

 

The coalition must now "move towards each other". At the same time, he calls for relief at petrol stations and rents.