Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk should be prepared to face consequences for meddling in the German election campaign if he takes office. "What happened in this election campaign cannot go unchallenged," Merz, the front-runner from the center-right conservative alliance, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. "It can be a political response. It can be a legal response. I want to analyze this calmly after this election campaign."