Chancellor Merz’s bid to bolster his domestic image by appearing tough on President Trump appears to have gained him little traction, with the German leader enjoying rock-bottom approval domestically and the lowest approval of any major European leader.
The German government is now one year old, the coalition agreement was signed on April 5th 2025, and the first day of government commenced on the 6th. While the so-called ‘grand coalition’ between the legacy establishment left and right-wing parties never scored especially highly in the opinion polls, it has now plunged to new depths, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz deeply unpopular even by European standards.
German broadcaster NTV reports in its first-anniversary polling on the ruling coalition that just one-in-ten Germans say they are satisfied with the government’s performance, with a crushing 87 per cent unhappy. Damningly for the government, not even the supporters of its own constituent parties — the Social Democrats on
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