Friedrich Merz canceled a phone call with Donald Trump after the U.S. president praised the AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz canceled a scheduled phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, just hours after Trump publicly welcomed the victory of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt.

The chancellor’s spokesperson did not give a reason for canceling the discussion and did not specify whether the decision was related to Trump’s messages. The U.S. president described the evening when the results of the Saxony-Anhalt elections were announced as “truly important” and ended the message with “MGGA,” an adaptation of his slogan “Make America Great Again,” transformed into “Make Germany Great Again.” Trump criticized Germany’s immigration rules and said that the AfD is “on the rise.”

Chancellor Merz has repeatedly opposed foreign interference and comments on Germany’s domestic politics, especially during elections.

The AfD won 43.8% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, nearly double its result in 2021, and 39 of the 83 seats in the regional parliament. The party is three seats short of an absolute majority. Merz’s CDU won 17.2% and 15 seats.

It is the first such decisive victory by a far-right party in a German state since the fall of the Nazi regime in 1945.