The incoming German chancellor campaigned as a debt hawk. Then a source told him about Trump’s plans for NATO.

Merz has argued it's essential, ... President Trump has recently called for NATO members to spend at least 5% of their GDPs on defense, a significantly higher proportion than even the U.S. spends.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted a pledge by NATO allies to boost defence spending at a "historic" summit starting ...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on the US to apply more pressure on Russia to end its three-year-old war on Ukraine. “You know that we gave support to Ukraine and that we are looking ...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (right) said the U.S administration is open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO, after meeting with President Trump.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he found President Donald Trump open to discussion and is convinced that Washington remains committed to the NATO alliance. Merz spoke in Berlin on Friday, a ...

Much of the annual summit in The Hague seemed catered to the impulses and worldviews of the Republican president.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz holds a speech at a formal inauguration of a German brigade for NATO's eastern flank in Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday, May 22, 2025.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz for the first time publicly advocated spending up to 5% of the German economy on defense. “We are on the way to commit ourselves to allocating the 3.5% NATO quota for ...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has traveled to NATO partner Lithuania to inaugurate a German brigade meant to protect the alliance’s eastern flank in the face of mounting worries about Russia ...

Trump, Merz discuss trade, NATO spending and Russia’s war on Ukraine. The German chancellor expressed his country’s support for Ukraine and pushed his US counterpart to apply more pressure on ...

BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and ...