Friedrich Merz has the political presence of a man who wants even his entrance into a room to suggest he has just made a difficult economic decision. His vocabulary revolves around responsibility, competitiveness and determination. Words that sound especially convincing until someone asks why the problems requiring all this determination have been around for so long.
Abroad, Merz is in his element. Special train, sirens, serious expression, billion-euro pledges: this is the chancellor he probably pictured back when he was a young politician from the Sauerland. At home, everyday life awaits: coalition meetings, budget gaps and local elections in which the AfD wins.
In Kyiv, Merz is a statesman. In Berlin, he is the shift supervisor of a coalition that likes to vote on the rota every single day.
Both roles demand plenty of self-confidence. He visibly has lots. Enough, at any rate, to see him through the next coalition row, and probably the one after that.