Trump celebrates far-right group's poll win. German Chancellor cancels call with him

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz cancelled a planned phone call with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday following the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s election victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt and a social media post by Trump celebrating the result, The Guardian reported.

Merz had been scheduled to speak with Trump, but the German chancellor surprisingly cancelled the call. No new date has been set.

Government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius did not provide a concrete reason for the postponement but hinted that factors beyond scheduling difficulties were involved, according to the Bild newspaper.

The timing of the cancellation has drawn attention because Trump had shortly before celebrated the AfD’s election success in Saxony-Anhalt. On his platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Wow, the populist party in Germany had a really big night.” Although he did not explicitly name the AfD, Trump added, “They are on the rise.”

Trump also used the abbreviation “MGGA!!!”, apparently referring to “Make America Great Again” and meaning “Make Germany Great Again.”

Kornelius left open whether Trump’s comments had prompted the cancellation of the call. However, when asked about the issue, he referred to Merz’s basic position. The chancellor has repeatedly made clear that “interventions or comments on the German domestic political situation, especially in elections” are “out of the question for him."

The AfD won Sunday’s regional election in Saxony-Anhalt by a wide margin but fell three seats short of a majority in the 83-member state parliament, leaving it unable to govern alone.

The result marked a major setback for Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had led the state for 24 years but saw its support plunge. Mainstream parties maintained their refusal to cooperate with the AfD, leaving it unclear how a stable government could be formed.

Merz’s CDU finished a distant second with 17.2 per cent and 15 seats, roughly half its previous support. The Social Democrats won 9.3 per cent, while the Greens and the Left Party each secured 8.9 per cent and 8.6 per cent, respectively, with eight seats each. The BSW secured 5.3 per cent and five seats.