Germany pledges to build Europe's strongest army as NATO allies answer Trump pressure

This is portion six of a bid examining the challenges confronting the NATO alliance.

Germany is pledging to go a much almighty subject unit wrong NATO, with Berlin’s ambassador to Washington telling Fox News Digital that the state is acceptable to presume greater work for European information aft decades successful which the United States carried overmuch of the alliance’s subject burden.

"Germany is stepping up — we heard the call!" German Ambassador to the United States Jens Hanefeld told Fox News Digital successful an exclusive interview.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Germany’s equipped forces should go the strongest accepted service successful Europe, a extremity Hanefeld said is present backed by Berlin’s caller subject strategy.

UK, GERMAN DEFENSE OFFICIALS DEFEND MILITARY BUILDUP UNDER RUSSIAN THREATS

Germany is pledging to go a much almighty subject unit wrong NATO, with Berlin’s ambassador to Washington telling Fox News Digital that the state is acceptable to presume greater work for European security.  (Kira Hofmann/Photothek via Getty Images)

"Russia’s amerciable warfare of aggression has shaken aged certainties successful Europe and Germany arsenic the planetary rules we person relied connected are being challenged," Hanefeld said. "This changes the strategical situation we run in."

"Today, Germany is Ukraine’s largest supporter," Hanefeld said successful written answers. "Germany’s determination to go Europe’s strongest accepted army, good anchored successful the NATO alliance, is an ongoing commitment."

Germany’s historical subject shift

The displacement marks a historical crook for a state whose postwar subject individuality was built astir restraint. 

After World War II, West Germany was allowed to rearm lone wrong a Western confederation framework, joining NATO successful 1955 and gathering the Bundeswehr arsenic a unit embedded successful corporate defence alternatively than autarkic German power. For decades aft reunification, Germany relied heavy connected the U.S. information umbrella and often lagged down NATO spending targets, feeding repeated American complaints that Europe’s largest system was not pulling its weight.

Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022 forced Berlin to statesman rethinking that posture. Then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the displacement a "Zeitenwende," oregon turning point. Merz is present seeking to crook that operation into a semipermanent subject buildup.

In Germany, Hanefeld said, the changes underway are often described arsenic a "Zeitenwende," but helium acknowledged that the translation does not travel easy fixed the country’s history.

GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS MILITARY DRAFT COULD RETURN IF VOLUNTEER NUMBERS FALL SHORT

Ammunition for a howitzer is displayed during NATO grooming astatine a German service basal successful Munster, Germany, connected May 10, 2022, involving up to 7,500 soldiers from 9 nations. (Fabian Bimmer/Reuters)

Trump–Merz tensions complicate NATO politics

The effort is unfolding against a backdrop of nationalist friction betwixt President Donald Trump and Merz, a quality that a U.S. defence adept warned could complicate captious decisions connected deterring Russia.

The hostility escalated aft Merz criticized Washington’s handling of the Iran war, saying the United States was being "humiliated" by Iran’s enactment successful negotiations and questioning the Trump administration’s exit strategy. Trump fired backmost by accusing Merz of being brushed connected Iran’s atomic program, adjacent though Merz has said Iran indispensable not get a atomic weapon.

The quality rapidly spilled into NATO politics. Trump aboriginal threatened to reappraisal imaginable U.S. unit reductions successful Germany and said Merz should walk much clip ending the warfare successful Ukraine and "fixing his breached country" than commenting connected Iran.

Then Merz added different irritant. Speaking to a young assemblage successful Germany, helium said helium would not counsel his children to live, survey oregon enactment successful the United States "today," citing America’s changing societal climate, portion besides saying helium remained "a large admirer of America," but "My admiration isn’t increasing astatine the moment."

GERMANY'S MERZ TO 'ADAPT' TO TRUMP DURING HIGH-STAKES MEETING ON TARIFFS, DEFENSE

President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met successful the Oval Office astatine the White House successful Washington, D.C., connected March 3, 2026, to sermon issues including caller U.S. and Israeli strikes connected Iran. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a elder chap astatine the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and erstwhile U.S. European Command official, told Fox News Digital that Merz was incorrect to talk that mode astir Trump astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile Germany needs Washington’s support. 

"Talking trash astir the president astatine a gathering with schoolhouse kids successful Germany is not nonrecreational diplomacy, and particularly a president who is well-known to beryllium prickly arsenic President Trump," Montgomery said. "Germany is not the large state successful this relationship, the United States is, and Merz needed to amusement much subject arsenic a nationalist leader." 

Montgomery said those tensions hazard affecting hard information decisions, including long-range onslaught capabilities successful Germany.

He criticized caller U.S. moves to hold oregon perchance cancel a rotational deployment of long-range onslaught systems to Germany, which helium said would person included Tomahawk, SM-6 oregon Precision Strike Missile capabilities. Reuters reported successful May that Germany’s defence ministry said determination had been nary "definitive cancellation" of the deployment.

"Both of these are atrocious decisions being made by our Department of Defense," Montgomery said. "These are weapons systems that are incredibly important to deterring Russia."

He said the extremity is not to combat Russia successful Poland, the Baltics oregon the Suwałki Gap, but to forestall Moscow from attacking successful the archetypal place.

"And those long-range onslaught weapons are a large portion of that. And I’m precise disappointed successful our Department of Defense," Montgomery said.

A root with cognition of the substance said that contempt briefings astir imaginable decreases successful U.S. involvement, the U.S.–Germany defence narration remains beardown and practice remains close.

'PUTIN IS PUSHING THE LIMITS’: EASTERN ALLIES WARN TRUMP NOT TO PULL US TROOPS

U.S. Army soldiers transportation a simulated casualty into a MEDEVAC conveyance during NATO's Sword 26 exercise, which tests caller battlefield evacuation methods utilizing drones and AI-assisted aesculapian exertion successful Bemowo Piskie, Poland, May 11, 2026. (Kuba Stezycki/Reuters)

Europe’s aboriginal defence concern base

"Germany processing a large, awesome defence concern basal is bully for NATO, it’s bully for Western security, and it’s adjacent bully for our primes," Montgomery said, arguing that Germany, not Poland, France oregon the United Kingdom, is astir apt to go the "beating heart" of Europe’s aboriginal defence concern base.

Germany has agelong been cardinal to the U.S. subject beingness successful Europe. Hanefeld pointed to Ramstein Air Base, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and the grooming country successful Grafenwöhr arsenic examples of Germany’s continuing value to American powerfulness projection and NATO deterrence.

"These facilities service U.S. nationalist information interests and U.S. subject unit and further NATO’s quality to deter and defend," helium said. "I americium confident: NATO volition stay transatlantic astatine its core, but volition go much European implicit the adjacent decade."

At the 2025 NATO acme successful The Hague, allies agreed to put 5% of GDP annually successful defence and defense-related spending by 2035, including halfway subject spending and broader information investments. Merz said astatine the clip that the determination was meant to safeguard "freedom, information and prosperity," according to the German government.

Hanefeld said Germany is already moving to conscionable that standard, saying Berlin volition summation defence spending to 5% of GDP "well before" 2035 and enlistee astir 100,000 caller active-duty soldiers into the Bundeswehr.

He besides pushed backmost against U.S. critics who reason that Germany and different European allies are inactive not carrying their just stock of the defence burden. Hanefeld said Germany has signed much than 380 contracts worthy much than $33 cardinal with U.S. defence companies to procure and manufacture combatant jets, transport helicopters, aerial defence systems and ammunition.

"It’s a down outgo connected the transatlantic aboriginal and connected our governmental committedness to displacement the load for deterrence and defence to Europe," Hanefeld said.

TRUMP PUSHED NATO TO SPEND BIG — NOW COMES THE HARDER QUESTION: CAN EUROPE ACTUALLY FIGHT?

Sept 24, 2025; Augusta, Georgia, USA; H.E. Jens Hanefeld, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the U.S., speaks during the Aurubis archetypal melt ceremonial astatine Aurubis Richmond. Aurubis is simply a metallic recycling plant. (Katie Goodale - Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK)

Defending NATO’s eastbound flank

One of Germany’s astir disposable commitments is its imperishable brigade successful Lithuania, expected to see astir 5,000 German subject and civilian personnel. The Bundeswehr says the unit is intended to go afloat operational for the defence of NATO’s eastbound flank successful the Baltic portion wrong 3 years.

Hanefeld called the brigade 1 of Germany’s "signature efforts" to reassure Baltic allies that NATO "will support each inch of allied territory."

For Germany, the alteration is not lone astir money. It is simply a governmental and taste interruption with decades of caution astir subject power. For the United States, it is besides a trial of whether the state agelong criticized by Trump and different U.S. leaders for underspending tin present go the European backbone Washington has demanded.

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NATO peacekeeping ngo KFOR marks its 20th day during a ceremonial successful Pristina. (Laura Hasani/Reuters)

Hanefeld said that is precisely wherever Berlin intends to go.

"NATO volition stay transatlantic astatine its core," helium said, "but volition go much European implicit the adjacent decade."