Olaf Scholz: The five key takeaways from the Chancellor’s cross-examination

1. I am the candidate

Good luck, comrades, it will be OK – and with me: “I will run for chancellor, to become chancellor again,” Scholz says right at the start of the cross-examination. The message: There is no discussion. The SPD is “very united” and “very determined” to win the 2025 federal election. And yet the unpopular chancellor was just confirmed in a survey that only a third of party members want him to be the next SPD candidate for chancellor. Enthusiasm for the SPD itself, which is currently forecast to receive 14 to 15 percent, is also limited.

Scholz is demonstratively unimpressed by this, no doubt in order to prevent such a dynamic from developing in the first place. The Chancellor says he is convinced that the Social Democrats will have “turned things around” by the time of the election. He is obviously banking on the explosive effect of the last election: at the very latest, when voters go to the ballot box, they will realise what they have in Scholz and the SPD.

“Whoever asks me for leadership will get it,” the Chancellor then says, with a view to the larger political situation, but also to his comrades. This is also a statement: Last time, no one wanted to believe in my victory, but now I’m sitting here.

2. Scholz takes on the BSW

Members of the Bundestag are resigning, district administrators are quitting: In parts of eastern Germany, the mood seems to be so unpleasant for many politicians that they are quitting. The Chancellor has also noticed this and is using the latest cases as an opportunity to expand his – admittedly not very broad – repertoire of pithy terms. Scholz sees “divisive entrepreneurs” at work. Not only from the ranks of the AfD, but also from Sahra Wagenknecht’s alliance. “We must do everything we can to ensure that the divisive entrepreneurs, the polarizing entrepreneurs, do not set the tone in our society,” warns Scholz.

His reference to the BSW is notable in that the Social Democrats are slowly getting the impression that the SPD is suffering particularly from the rise of the Wagenknecht coalition with its slogans of peace and justice. However, the Chancellor is not presenting a real anti-Wagenknecht plan. Cohesion, sensible governance, solutions instead of loudmouthing: Scholz is simply repeating his old mantra. Is that enough to keep the former Left politician’s party small? The state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September will provide information on this.

3. First Biden, then Harris? Just not Trump

Scholz would probably also count former and perhaps future US President Donald Trump among the “divisive entrepreneurs” and populist loudmouths. He does not say this openly, trying not to fall into the trap that has been set for him several times. Instead, the Chancellor stresses that he would work well with any US government – that is, after all, his job. Sure. Nevertheless, Scholz cannot (or does not want to) refrain from saying: “I think it is very possible that Kamala Harris will win the election campaign.” She is competent, experienced and knows what she wants and what she can do.

Scholz, on the other hand, says practically nothing about Trump, and even deliberately formulates his answer vaguely when asked whether he had made personal contact with him after the assassination: “As head of government, I maintain direct contact with governments.”

A subtle distancing? Possible. Scholz recently said in an interview with the “Welt” that Joe Biden’s re-election was “very likely”, which caused considerable discontent in the Trump camp. Now Scholz considers Harris’ election – who will very likely stand in for his “friend” Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate – to be possible.

4. Stop the sloppiness in migration policy

Scholz also followed the verdict with interest: A court in Münster doubts the blanket protection for civil war refugees from Syria. “This supports the position of the federal government and the chancellor,” Scholz stressed in the press conference. Smugglers, as in this case, cannot enjoy protection in Germany – and could also be deported to Syria.

The Chancellor presents himself as a doer who has made asylum and migration policy a top priority. And he has to; Scholz has raised expectations.

As a consequence of the fatal knife attack in Mannheim, he announced that serious criminals and terrorist threats would be deported back to Afghanistan and Syria – no easy undertaking, especially from a legal point of view. Scholz also speaks of “not entirely uncomplicated” processes, but assures that “you (the journalists) will soon be able to report on deportations that have actually been carried out to Afghanistan.” The message: This is happening, and very soon.

Basically, Scholz wants to give the impression that the traffic light coalition is tackling the controversial issue of irregular migration. “Don’t just complain, act,” is Scholz’s motto, and “put an end to the sloppiness”: There should be more deportations.

5. The deterrence doctrine

The SPD is very united, the Chancellor has repeatedly stressed. However, one decision recently alarmed the Social Democrats: Scholz’s announcement that the USA would again station medium-range missiles in Germany from 2026, with a range as far as Russia.

The peace wing of the party, which is gaining support the longer the war in Ukraine lasts, was not very enthusiastic about this, and sees the decision as a risk of a creeping escalation with Russia. Scholz remains firm, defending the agreement with Washington. The decision serves as a deterrent, it ensures that Germany is not attacked and that no war takes place.

Incidentally, it was Russia that ignored the arms control agreements of the past decades, says Scholz. Then he does something he rarely does: He tells of a confidential conversation with Vladimir Putin. Shortly before the war in February 2022, he offered the Russian president to talk about arms control and the concrete stationing of missiles. Putin was not interested in that, but had long been preparing for his war. The Chancellor’s message: We are not the bad guys here – the man in the Kremlin is.