Merkel Defends Her Party's Position on Debt
- SPD’s Schulz targets Trump in five-week push to close poll gap
- Share of undecided voters at 20-year high in latest survey
How Germany Votes: Everything You Need to Know
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected the caricature of her party as obsessed with debt, while her main election challenger attacked her as too accommodating toward U.S. President Donald Trump.
Campaigning ahead of the Sept. 24 national vote, Merkel name-checked Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, whose oversight of Germany’s balanced budget and pressure on other euro-area countries make him popular at home. Social Democratic challenger Martin Schulz expanded his party’s attacks on Trump, pledging to ban U.S. nuclear weapons from Germany and portraying Merkel as bowing to U.S. pressure to increase defense outlays.