Germany’s Merz rejects Trump’s NATO burden-sharing criticism

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday hit back at US President Donald Trump’s criticism that European NATO allies, particularly Germany, are not pulling their weight on defense spending. Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Merz said Germany is taking major steps to ramp up its defense investments and meet the targets agreed at NATO’s 2025 summit in The Hague. “Germany is doubling its defense budget within four years,” Merz told reporters. “This is the greatest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defense capabilities. In that regard, we have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Trump’s criticism

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 defense 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!”

Summit context

The exchange comes just days before the NATO summit in Ankara, where burden-sharing and defense spending are expected to dominate the agenda. Merz’s remarks reflect Germany’s efforts to demonstrate increased commitment to the alliance amid ongoing tensions over transatlantic burden-sharing.