Hours after Friedrich Merz's conservatives won Germany's national election, he sent the outgoing Social Democrat government a memorandum dictating how to cooperate during the transition period before he took power.

Negotiators from German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats started exploratory talks Friday on a possible coalition government, but were tightlipped on the details as they launched what could be a complicated process.

Merz expressed concern over changing relations with Washington under the Trump administration, emphasizing the need for gradual independence from the U.S.