Germany’s Left-Wing Leader Collapses Government Amid Unease Around Trump Presidential Win

Germany’s coalition government collapsed on Wednesday after left-wing Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, just one day after President-elect Donald Trump won the U.S. elections.

Scholz’s decision splits his three-party coalition apart, ousting Lindner’s party from the coalition and leaving the two remaining parties he still has the support of without enough seats in parliament to hold a majority, according to multiple reports. Scholz promised that he’d continue governing with his now-minority coalition until the year’s end.

“I would have liked to have spared you this difficult decision,” Scholz said during a press conference on Wednesday, according to The New York Times. “Especially in times like these, when uncertainty is growing.”

Lindner was fired because he disagreed with Scholz on what Germany’s economic policies should look like, according to The Associated Press. Two other officials from Lindner’s party, the Free Democrats, resigned.

“Olaf Scholz has sadly shown that he does not have the strength to give our country a new start,” Lindner told reporters on Wednesday, referring to Scholz’s economic proposals as “dull and unambitious,” according to the NYT.

Scholz vowed to hold a vote of confidence in Parliament in January, according to the NYT. If Scholz receives a vote of no confidence, it is likely snap elections will be held soon thereafter.

The chancellor’s decision comes one day after Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential elections, which has put Germany and other European nations on edge given his more skeptical approach than President Joe Biden’s seemingly unconditional relationship with Europe.