Does Europe’s Shift Right Echo Changes in the U.S.?

Though U.S. President-elect Trump has yet to take office on January 20, the political landscape across several European countries has already been overshadowed by the shockwaves of his election victory.

Since December 2024, the two major engines of the European continent—Germany and France—have been experiencing turbulent times.

In mid-December, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who took office in 2021 succeeding Angela Merkel, decided to dissolve the already fractured coalition government after failing to pass a vote of confidence in the Bundestag, thus triggering early elections. The next German federal election is set for February 23, 2025, bringing it forward by approximately nine months from the originally scheduled election timeframe. Historically, German politics has been known for forming long-lasting governing coalitions based on slow inter-party negotiations.

As the largest economy in the European Union, Germany is also undergoing an economic winter. Known for adhering to its debt brake and fiscal discipline, Germany is facing stagnating economic growth and frequent layoff announcements from major corporations. Yet, political parties have been unable to reach a consensus in parliament on how to balance budget discipline with economic stimulus. Ultimately, this debate over fiscal issues exacerbated fractures within Germany's ruling coalition, leading to the premature dissolution of the "traffic light coalition" formed by the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party, and the Free Democratic Party.