Addressing the Munich Security Conference on Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested that “a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States.” While Merz called for both American and European actions to “repair” the trans-Atlantic alliance, his speech was notably critical of the Trump administration.
The blame for the current malaise in trans-Atlantic relations must be shared. Trump has seriously damaged trans-Atlantic trust with his unconstitutional threats to seize Greenland. Still, evidence of its abundant domestic hypocrisy notwithstanding, the Trump administration is right that Europe devalues free speech to its detriment.
Regardless, as long as Merz continues to invest heavily in Germany’s defense budget, he will deserve the Trump administration’s open ear. Merz is likely to get that open ear in private, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby attend the Munich conference this weekend. While Merz’s public rhetoric might annoy President Donald Trump, his defense policies represent exactly what Trump has been demanding from Berlin since 2017.
Since entering office in May 2025, Merz has very positively contrasted himself with his predecessors, Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel. Scholz was a weak and hesitating leader who, at best, offered a dithering response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. That invasion constitutes by far the largest, bloodiest, and most destabilizing land war in Europe since the Second World War.
Merkel was even worse. Contrary to the always absurd media feting Merkel received (including far too many in U.S. media), she was a disaster for trans-Atlantic security. Merkel presided over so grossly underfunded a German army that it had to train with broomsticks, and over a foreign policy that endorsed unvarnished appeasement of Russia alongside obsequious submission to China.
Not so Merz.
The new chancellor has moved rapidly to take the lead on NATO burden sharing. Joining Poland and the Baltic States in heavy defense investments, he will see Germany’s 2026 defense budget increase 32% from its 2025 figure. Germany will spend 3% of GDP on defense in 2026 or 2027, rising to at least 3.5% of GDP in 2029. This investment significantly exceeds that of America’s closest ally, the United Kingdom. And unlike French President Emmanuel Macron, who revels in long-winded lectures about a new world in which Europe must step up, Merz puts his money where his mouth is.
To be clear, Merz is strengthening NATO and addressing Trump’s righteous demand that America’s European allies do more, now, to defend themselves. Merz’s action is thus likely to receive at least private praise from Colby, who has long argued that Europe must do more to deter and defeat a prospective Russian attack on NATO. The U.S. should absolutely remain committed to NATO, being that it directly serves U.S. security, economic, and other interests. This is especially true in terms of nuclear forces and eastward-deployed mechanized and armored combat brigades.
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But China’s exceptional military challenge requires a refocusing of U.S. air and naval assets toward the Pacific. The same is true in terms of U.S. military deployments in the Middle East. Merz is supporting that agenda by fielding combat capabilities that can hold back Russian combined-arms formations more effectively than Macron’s speeches.
In short, Merz has earned his right to have Trump administration officials sit through his speeches and then discuss his concerns in a constructive manner.