Morning coverage focused on Trump's pressure campaign against Harvard, with threatened tax exemption removal and foreign student visa restrictions - part of his continuing battle against universities opposing his policies. In domestic politics, debate intensified about CDU's "firewall" against AfD, with businessman Reinhold Würth unexpectedly advocating cooperation while Jens Spahn dismissed the idea.

By midday, Russia escalated tensions by warning Germany that Taurus missile deliveries to Ukraine would constitute "direct involvement" in the conflict - a direct response to Merz's earlier Taurus statements that had already prompted Medvedev to call him a "Nazi."

The afternoon brought a contrasting development in EU-US relations when Trump, during Italian PM Meloni's visit, surprisingly announced he was "100 percent" confident of reaching a trade deal with the EU, potentially easing the tariff crisis that had dominated headlines for weeks.

A Berlin court sentenced the attacker of Jewish student Lahav Shapira to three years in prison, continuing the week's focus on antisemitism and violence.