A changed Germany
Whenever I come back to Germany, I am struck by how much it has changed over the past decade. It has set aside its deep postwar aversion to military leadership and is investing many billions in rearmament. It has set aside its equally deep aversion to debt, recently abandoning once-untouchable borrowing limits. It is also increasingly setting aside any qualms over voting for a far-right party: The A.F.D. is now the second biggest force in parliament.
Another thing that’s changed: German chancellors are talking to The New York Times now! Angela Merkel never gave me or my predecessor an interview; all the places on her plane were reserved for the German press. I wondered if that might reflect something about Germany’s changing position in a world where the U.S. is both crucial to Europe’s future and an increasingly erratic partner. As Jim discovered, Merz still has an abiding faith in the American people.
You can read Jim’s profile of Merz here. Our conversation is below.
Katrin: Germany is Europe’s biggest and richest country, and as a result, it has this sort of implicit leadership role. Or, at least, Angela Merkel did during my time. Would you say that’s still true for Friedrich Merz?
Jim: I would say it is true, by a kind of process of elimination. Look at the other big countries. In Britain, Keir Starmer is really struggling at home. His government’s under a lot of pressure. In France, the same is true for Emmanuel Macron. He’s sort of a lame duck.
So Merz, just by virtue of being German chancellor, has this outsize role. But he’s also really tried to fill it. One of the most striking things about the first half-year of Merz’s tenure is just how much he has leaned into foreign policy — and particularly into this idea of trying to be the big man in Europe.
It hasn’t always worked. He, too, is pretty unpopular at home. And he’s also confronting a rising far-right party. But on balance he’s still better positioned than other potential leaders on the continent, especially in terms of the money he can spend. And I think he’s trying to leverage that, especially when it comes to Ukraine.
Do Merz and the other Europeans have a strategy on Ukraine? For a long time, it seemed as if it was just, we’ll support Ukraine whatever it takes, for however long it takes. But I think everybody’s aware that time’s running out on that commitment. What are they thinking now?
When you talk to people close to these talks, they’re all very aware of the cycle they’ve been in for months. The Ukrainians and the Americans come together, and they talk and reach an agreement. The Americans go back and take it to the Russians. The Russians say no, and then they get America’s ear, and a totally different agreement comes out, which is much less favorable to Ukraine. Then Merz and his fellow European leaders go back to work on Trump to try to pull him away. It’s basically like this elliptical orbit where Trump gets closer to Putin and then comes back closer to Europe and then closer to Putin and back. And the real challenge is to break out of that orbit.
Still, Merz believes the strategy has to be: keeping America engaged and trying to persuade Donald Trump that it’s in his interest to side with Ukraine. You can criticize that strategy, you can applaud that strategy, but that’s what they’re betting on.
I met Merz before he was chancellor, and he always gave me 1990s vibes. You know, Bonn republic vibes? You recently accompanied him on his airplane. What kind of a guy is he?
Yes, he struck me as a bit of a throwback. In particular, he has this very deep admiration of America that is reminiscent of another era. He spent a lot of time in America. He talked very fondly about his trips to America. He particularly likes Arizona!
I think that all the time he spent there has given him what we might consider a 1990s idealistic view of the country. He’s betting that America will, in the end, come in and side with the angels when it comes to Ukraine. I found that interesting, though I’m not sure it’s true.
Another thing I noticed: I’m used to American politicians, whether it’s Trump or Joe Biden, who have a certain type of presidential charm they turn on with journalists. And I didn’t really get the sense that Merz was trying to charm me. Maybe that’s a cultural difference, but it didn’t seem like he was playing the politician. He just wanted to talk about economics and Ukraine.
So, Jim, before you came to Germany, you covered politics and the global economy from Washington, D.C. What surprised you the most when you first arrived?
The thing that surprised me most was how much covering Germany has actually been very similar to my old job. Trump’s shadow is everywhere. The German economy is much more dependent on the whims of Trump’s trade policy than I expected coming in. And certainly, Merz’s chancellorship has been more dominated by his responses to Trump than by migration or economics or a bunch of the other domestic issues that I was really gearing up for. Donald Trump looms very, very large here.
OTHER NEWS
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European leaders discussed a contentious deal to back Ukraine, with Belgium among the key holdouts.
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The U.S. announced more than $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, which is bracing for a long-feared invasion by China.
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The Trump administration said it would pull federal funding from any U.S. hospital that provides gender-related care for minors.
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Sydney’s Jewish community gathered for the funeral of the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach attack, a 10-year-old named Matilda.
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Nigeria shut down lead recycling factories that supply battery materials to U.S. car companies, and started testing soil, air and local residents for lead poisoning.
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Paramilitaries in Sudan killed over 1,000 people — some in summary executions — in an April attack against a famine-stricken camp for the displaced, the U.N. said.
SPORTS
Football: What to know about the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
Cricket: How England fell apart on the most important day of The Ashes.
Olympics: The “Hercules gene” is a gift and a curse for elite athletes.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If someone can do something, by all means go for it.”
— President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, speaking to a group of university students and academics, said he was out of ideas to solve his country’s insurmountable problems. He added: “I can’t do anything; don’t curse me.”
Trump Administration: Live Updates
Updated
- Trump and his loyalists move to name the Kennedy Center for him.
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- Democratic lawmakers are asking an inspector general to review Howard Lutnick’s possible conflicts.
MORNING READ
Gunmen kidnapped 253 children and 12 staff members last month from St. Mary’s Catholic School in northwest Nigeria. Survivors shared their stories with The Times, including Stephen Samuel, 18.
That night, he woke up to voices, banging and a gunman in his dormitory. He tried to scramble under his bed, but it was too late. He was part of the crowd herded through the school gates and down a dark road, along with his 13-year-old sister. When one of his captors was distracted, Stephen found a way to slip away. Read his story.
AROUND THE WORLD
Celebrating Christmas early in California
For many in the Filipino diaspora, the Christmas season unofficially begins during any month ending in “-ber.” On the first night of November this year, revelers at a grocery store in Daly City, Calif., sang Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” as they gathered around a D.J. booth set up in the checkout aisle.
When the D.J., JP Breganza, played a crowd favorite, the party took off: Shoppers danced while holding plates of pandesal sliders with adobo, sizzling pork sisig and kwek-kwek (battered quail egg) skewers.
“We just live to eat and party, and sing, especially with immigrant parents coming from the Philippines,” Breganza said. “That’s all they had was music and food. Especially my parents growing up in poverty. You know all the neighborhood had in those days was togetherness.”
RECIPE
It’s cookie season. Of course, you can bake and eat delicious cookies year-round, but somehow they always taste better in December. Here are our most-loved Christmas recipes.
WHERE IS THIS?
Where are these flamingos?
BEFORE YOU GO …
Nostalgia is a powerful feeling.
I left the town where I grew up when I was 17. I’ve lived in many places since, and been happy in most. But almost every Christmas, I come back to Osnabrück. And suddenly — whether it’s the mulled wine at the Christmas market, the dog-eared diaries in my childhood bedroom, or the sound of my mum’s Dire Straits CDs — I feel home.
It makes me happy, but also sentimental. I find myself mourning the changes: Why did the bakery need new owners? Why an obstacle course in the public swimming pool — what was wrong with the 1980s diving tower?
Then I remind myself that change can be good, but that we’re also allowed to immerse ourselves in nostalgia sometimes, especially during the holidays.
In that spirit, I’m recommending two of my favorite old movies. First, “When Harry Met Sally,” from 1989, directed by the great Rob Reiner, who was so tragically killed last weekend. (His mother contributed the classic line: “I’ll have what she’s having.”)
And for the German speakers, my family watches “Drei Haselnüsse for Aschenbrödel,” a sort of feminist 1970s version of Cinderella made behind the Iron Curtain. Check out this scene for a taste.
By the way, we’ll be doing something a little different with the newsletter for the next two weeks. We’ll still give you the latest news. But at the top, we’ll be sending you to some of our favorite long reads of the year, or giving you some cool best-of-2025 stuff. We hope you enjoy the chance to slow down a bit.
Thank you for reading The World! It’s the best Christmas gift for me. I’ve got one for you too: I’ve created a playlist of all the world songs I’ve recommended in this space so far.
Have a great weekend, and happy holidays! — Katrin
TIME TO PLAY
Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.
Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter incorrectly described an attack on U.S. troops in Syria as an incident of sectarian violence.
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Katrin Bennhold is the host of The World, the flagship global newsletter of The New York Times.
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