German chancellor voices hope for Trump loss in 2024 elections

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday expressed hope that Donald Trump will lose his bid to win back the US presidency, according to media reports.

The fact that Trump wants to run again is not particularly impressive, the chancellor told the TV channel n-tv on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Scholz called on American voters to again reject demagoguery in the 2024 presidential election.

The German leader also praised incumbent President Joe Biden, saying he is "very fit" and a "very smart, very experienced politician who deals with issues of world development" and "an important" promoter of transatlantic ties.

Asked whether Trump's Tuesday announcement that he was running again played a role at the G-20 summit, Scholz replied, "Perhaps the best news is: not at all."

It is normally unusual for world leaders to weigh in on foreign presidential races, even in early stages, but Berlin and most Germans breathed a sigh of relief when Biden defeated Trump in November 2022.

German-US relations hit an all-time low under Trump, who often targeted Germany and then-Chancellor Angela Merkel for particular ire.

Trump held Germany in particularly low regard, criticizing its trade surpluses – telling his first NATO summit that “the Germans are very, very bad” – and decrying its defense spending levels, even suggesting that Berlin owes “vast sums of money” to the Western military alliance and America.

Trump, known for his brusque, truculent attitude, aggressively spurned finding personal chemistry with Merkel (and most Western leaders), reportedly calling her “stupid.”