Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has fallen behind Alice Weidel, leader of the AfD, in the trust rankings measured by the polling institute Forsa. In the latest “Politician Ranking” for RTL/ntv, Merz lost four points, dropping from 25 to 21 trust points. Despite this drop, the trust values for the other 17 of the 18 politicians included in the Forsa ranking, who were counted in May, have either improved or remained unchanged. Weidel currently holds 22 points. At the bottom of the ranking, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU) and AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla are tied with 20 points each.
As in previous rankings, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) remains at the top with 55 trust points in September. Behind him are Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Minister President Manuela Schwesig (SPD), who was included in the ranking for the first time, and North Rhine-Westphalia Minister President Hendrik Wüst (CDU), who are both tied with 50 points. Wüst improved by three points since May.
Cem Özdemir (Greens) follows in fourth place with 46 points. Johann Wadephul (CDU) and Markus Söder (CSU) achieve 39 points each. Söder gained four points since May, making him one of the biggest winners in the current ranking, alongside newly included Manuela Schwesig. Thorsten Frei (CDU) is next with 34 points, followed by Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) with 33 points.
Matthias Miersch (SPD) and Felix Banaszak (Greens) are tied at 31 points. Heidi Reichinnek (Left), Lars Klingbeil (SPD), and Carsten Linnemann (CDU) each score 30 points. Further down are Ines Schwerdtner (Left) with 28 points, and Franziska Brantner (Greens) and Bärbel Bas (SPD) tied at 27 points.
The survey asked 1,504 people between September 23 and 25, 2026, with evaluations based on a scale of 0 to 100.
