Overnight attention to Pistorius's Pentagon meeting and US praise for German NATO progress gave way to the domestic power struggle. All eight CDU minister-presidents issued a joint declaration backing Chancellor Merz and rejecting personnel debates, which editors read as deliberately nameless, fragile unity ahead of Sunday's votes in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union address proposed Canada as first associated EU member, a NATO-like Article 4 mechanism and an age limit for social media.
The Brandmauer dispute sharpened, with Hesse premier Rhein demanding an end to AfD exclusion and warnings of federal coercion if the AfD governs Saxony-Anhalt.
Campaign coverage closed on the MV TV duel between Schwesig and AfD challenger Holm and Berlin's RBB arena, alongside record fuel prices and a new anti-terror and anti-fraud plan.