Berlin believes closer transatlantic cooperation could create fresh opportunities to address major international conflicts.
People vote at a polling location on Election Day during the midterm elections in South Portland, Maine on November 3, 2026. Americans voting in the midterm elections will decide who controls Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, along with dozens of governorships and thousands of state offices. Picture: Angela Weiss / AFP
Germany’s foreign minister expressed hope Wednesday that the “very clear” Democrat victory in the US midterm election might bring new initiatives to end conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“With their majority in both chambers of Congress, the Democratic Party will likely seek to shift the political course in the United States,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said a day after US voters dealt President Donald Trump’s Republicans a historic defeat.
Germany sees opportunity for renewed diplomatic efforts
Through close cooperation between the United States and Europe, “there may be a new opportunity to launch a fresh initiative” to resolve conflicts, he said.
Wadephul said he was “quite optimistic” that US aid for Ukraine — which has been slashed under Trump — would be the subject of “more discussion” by US lawmakers from both parties.
The minister also noted that Trump’s tariffs and the US war against Iran both appeared to play a role in the election result by driving up the cost of living.
Minister warns against political polarisation
Trump’s tariffs on the European Union and auto imports hit Germany — the bloc’s biggest economy — particularly hard, as have rising energy costs blamed on the Middle East war.
Wadephul suggested that election results in the United States and elsewhere underscore that it is “our task” to bolster the political centre in times “characterised by the erosion of political norms and international rules, as well as by polarisation and populism”.
“Patriotism means defending this centre against the enemies of democracy — against those who support authoritarianism and dictatorship — including here, in the German parliament,” Wadephul said.
