TRUMP HAILS RIGHT-WING AFD’S RECORD WIN IN GERMAN STATE ELECTION

Wed 09 September 2026:

US President Donald Trump praised Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party after it secured a record result in a state election, attributing its rise to opposition to the country’s immigration policies.

“Wow! The Populist Party in Germany just had a really big night,” Trump said Tuesday in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“They finally got tired of the absolutely horrible Immigration rules and regulations which have hurt Germany so badly. THEY ARE ON THE RISE, and not going to take it anymore! MGGA!!!” he added, using an abbreviation for “Make Germany Great Again.”

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The AfD won 43.8% of the vote in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, its strongest showing in any German state election, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) fell to 17.2%.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has classified the AfD’s regional branch as a proven right-wing extremist organization, saying parts of the party promote a racist, ethnic understanding of national identity that is incompatible with the country’s democratic constitutional order. Mainstream parties have cited that assessment in maintaining a refusal to govern with the AfD.

Declining confidence and a CDU that lost its edge

Weekly Forsa tracking shows most Germans are worried about the worsening economic conditions.

AfD supporters are consistently the “most pessimistic” about future prospects even though many are middle class, Peter Matuschek, director of research for pollster Forsa said.

For decades, he noted, the CDU was seen as the party most competent to handle the country’s problems and deliver economic prosperity, with 30%, 40% or even 50% of voters saying so, followed by its coalition partner, the Social Democrats.

“Now we have the CDU at 13%, 14%,” he said.

That confidence, he stressed, will return only through “sound economic policy” that gives people the impression the government can still act on their problems – and through credible figures who can “win over the hearts of voters again.”

‘Radicalized’ middle class

Surveys show the AfD mobilized both its base and former non-voters in Saxony-Anhalt, helping the party more than double its score.

About 170,000 people who stayed home in 2021 went to the polls this time and voted for the AfD, according to a survey by public broadcaster ARD.

Matuschek said Forsa polls show that concerns about the economy and migration were key themes for AfD voters. That fear, he stressed, is about losing what they already have.

“So there are different factors at play, but I think what combines all those issues is this fear and this anger of losing something and of wanting something back, that’s to say, going back to the past,” he said, adding that this mood was especially strong in eastern Germany.

“It’s not the poorest who vote for the AfD. We’ve seen this in many, many analyses. It’s a radicalized middle class with fears of losing their status,” Matuschek said.

The Saxony-Anhalt election also highlighted AfD voters’ more favorable view of Russia and their opposition to economic and military support for Ukraine, Matuschek said.

“They believe that if we sought an agreement with Russia and did not support Ukraine, we might get cheaper gas and return to prices as they were before the war,” he said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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