German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s criticism that European NATO allies, particularly Germany, are not pulling their weight on defence spending.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin on Friday, Merz said Germany is taking major steps to ramp up its defence investments and meet the targets agreed at NATO’s 2025 summit in The Hague.
“Germany is doubling its defence budget within four years,” Merz told reporters.
“This is the greatest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defence capabilities. In that regard, we have nothing to be ashamed of.”
‘One-sided’ relationship
In posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump called it “ridiculous” for the US to continue what he described as a “one-sided” relationship in which Washington shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden.
Trump shared a chart comparing defence spending across NATO members and wrote: “Ridiculous for the U.S.A. to continue along this one-sided path when the relationship is not reciprocal. They were not there for us!!!”
In an earlier post, he singled out Germany: “The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing. Others, including Germany, are MUCH LOWER. (2014-2025) Ridiculous!”
