Source : BRICS NEWS
BERLIN, November 4, 2026 – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that he does not expect a fundamental change in US President Donald Trump’s policies despite the Republican Party’s defeat in the midterm elections, predicting that Mr Trump would continue to govern largely through executive orders that bypass Congress.
“Even over the last two years, Trump has largely governed by bypassing Congress. Why should that be any different now?” Mr Merz said at the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Economic Forum in Berlin, Anadolu Agency reported. BRICS News highlighted the comments in a post on X, writing that Mr Merz expects Mr Trump to bypass Congress using executive orders after the elections.
Mr Merz said the US Constitution gives the president such a strong position that he can take decisions very independently of Congress, unlike a German chancellor, Deutschlandfunk reported. The president “is very independent and can decide very independently of Congress”, Mr Merz said, according to EFE, noting that things are different in Germany. He made the remarks when asked for his assessment of the result at the economic forum.
The chancellor said he had not been surprised by the outcome. “Honestly, it neither surprised me nor did I think much about it. It was foreseeable that the result in the US would be like this, at least in the House of Representatives,” he said, according to the Spanish news agency EFE. He admitted, however, that it had not been foreseeable that the Democrats would also win control of the Senate.
Mr Merz said the Democratic victory could affect areas such as the federal budget and plans for the military. “But that will take time, and that is why I was not so excited” on hearing the result, he said, according to EFE.
The German government struck a cautious tone. Deputy government spokesman Steffen Meyer said: “The USA is—and will remain—an important partner and ally for us. We will continue our close cooperation with the USA, even if a different constellation were to emerge in both chambers,” Anadolu reported. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had earlier welcomed the result, saying it could open an opportunity to deepen transatlantic relations after two years of tension, EFE reported.
Armin Laschet, chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, said the biggest challenge remained Mr Trump’s unpredictability, and that the president might act even more aggressively on the international stage, where he still has room to shape events, Deutschlandfunk reported, citing an interview with the AFP news agency.
The Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday’s vote, a sharp setback for Mr Trump that gives the opposition greater power to scrutinise his administration during the final two years of his term. Mr Trump has said he expects to work with Democrats in Congress but warned that he would veto legislation he opposed, Stars and Stripes reported. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said Democrats will use Congress’s power of the purse to end the war with Iran once the new members take office in January, Fox News reported.
Source: BRICS News on X
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