Friedrich Merz travels to Paris and Warsaw on Wednesday on his first foreign trip as German chancellor, still reeling from a humiliating setback in Tuesday’s government transition that raised early questions about his leadership.

BERLIN — Friedrich Merz made his world-affairs debut Wednesday as Germany’s new chancellor, with plans to immediately team up with allies France and Poland to present a united European front on support for Ukraine and against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.

The day after his dramatic election in parliament as German chancellor, Friedrich Merz set off on the first trip abroad of his administration on Wednesday, heading first for France and then Poland. In Paris,