Germany Steps Up

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is rearming Germany, bankrolling Ukraine, and picking fights with Trump – and he's just getting started. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) is accompanied by the Inspector of the Army Christian Freuding (L) during the visit to the German army barracks in Munster, northern Germany, on April 30, 2026. (Photo by DANIEL REINHARDT / AFP) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google The prospect of another gigantic German military in Europe is daunting to many, but it is already underway as Chancellor Friedrich Merz takes on Russia, harnesses his country’s wealth to build the continent’s biggest military, and partners with Ukraine. An investment banker who served in the military, Merz is characteristically German and also as blunt as Trump, which is why it’s hardly surprising that the two have tangled. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . In a recent speech, Merz said the President had no exit strategy in Iran and was being “humiliated.” In response, Trump said he will pull 5,000 of America’s 35,000 NATO troops out of Germany, impose higher tariffs on European cars, and accused Merz of siding with Iran. “The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” wrote Trump, adding that “No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and otherwise!” Trump is right to be upset because allies should never pillory one another’s strategy in public, but he’s wrong about Germany’s condition. The country is a powerhouse and the third-largest economy in the world, after the US and China. The leaders clashed, but, ironically, Merz aligns with Trump’s criticism of Europeans for not spending enough on their militaries and is doing something about it. However, he’s also like Trump in style. Each communicates with German bluntness, or Direktheit ,  a speaking style that is efficient, clear, honest, never sugar-coated, and perceived as rude by other cultures. Despite the exchange of insults, however, Merz leads Europe’s rearmament and finances the lion’s share of funding to Ukraine’s war. Other Topics of Interest Russia Losing More Troops Than It Can Replace for Fifth Straight Month – Defense Minister Fedorov said Ukraine’s strategic aim is to push Russian losses to a level where “further advances become unsustainable.” Germany is aggressively rearming and is the engine of growth for the region. It has overtaken Britain as the region’s largest defense investor. In 2026, it became the world’s fourth-largest defense spender behind the US, China, and Russia. Merz’s goal is to make the Bundeswehr the “strongest conventional armed force in Europe.” To that end, he’s taken on the system by gradually introducing conscription, re-engineering the country’s infrastructure to prepare for a Russian invasion as soon as 2029, and by reinventing his country as a “Weapons Factory,” said an expert. Germany already has a greater capacity for making ammunition than the United States. Buoyed by technology, a powerful industrial base, and a resolve to stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s war against Europe, Merz signs massive checks to support Ukraine and billions more in joint ventures with Ukraine to make drones, technology, and weapons. Their partnership increases Ukraine’s autonomy and integrates its industry into Europe’s defense-industrial system. Merz has also proposed to France that it extend its nuclear umbrella across the continent and become a key leader in the European Union and NATO. As Germany expands its forces, so do others. Germany’s military about-face reverses years of pacifism and the duplicitous leadership of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel, which endangered Europe, led to the current war, and was orchestrated by Russia. Vladimir Putin lived for years in Germany as a KGB agent, and learned how to “play” the country by making it dependent on Russian energy in preparation for conquest. As a KGB operative in the 1980s, he mingled with Germany’s political players, studied its political psyche, corrupted its elite networks, and discovered its vulnerabilities. Putin’s first invasion was to build a series of pipelines designed to make Europe dependent on Russian oil and natural gas. Americans objected and warned against ceding such power to Moscow, but the Germans plowed ahead. Then, in 2022, Putin invaded Ukraine again and shut down energy exports to blackmail Europe into submission. But the continent rationed, closed industries, and found alternatives. Europeans joined to support the Ukrainians, but the lion’s share of help initially came from the United States. Trump has bashed Europe as “pathetic freeloaders” and “trade cheats.” He also considers the Ukrainian war to be Europe’s problem, conducting negotiations but handing off costs, which are now borne mostly by Germany. On the other hand, Europe considers Trump’s war in Iran as America’s choice, not theirs, and failed to join forces. Merz’s frustration is because the war has caused collateral damage to Europe, and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused another energy crisis in Europe. Merz and Trump have traded insults, adding to fears that America may pull out of NATO altogether. A Pentagon official cited Germany’s failure to contribute to America’s Iran war effort itself as the reason to pull out troops. But Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of US Army Europe, strongly criticized plans to withdraw any US troops from Germany, calling it a “colossal mistake.” He argued it was “not a strategy move” but a “huge gift to the Kremlin” that damages NATO and weakens US security because its German operations are a major hub for all its forces. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants the rift to mend. He warned that “the greatest threat to the transatlantic community is not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance.” In a post on X, he wrote: “We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.” Merz’s take on Iran was pointed, and he shouldn’t have publicly said it, given Trump’s thin skin. It was gruff: “The Americans obviously have no strategy [in Iran], and the problem with such conflicts is always that you don’t just have to go in, you also have to get out again,” said Merz. “We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw that in Iraq. So this situation is, as I said, at least ill-considered, and I do not see at the moment what strategic exit the Americans are choosing now.” Clearly, these two leaders will tangle in the future, given their blunderbuss style. Trump’s reaction to remove 5,000 soldiers was criticized by US Senator Roger Wicker and others who noted the decision risked “undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.” Merz tried to downplay the spat and did not apologize, but Trump will hold a grudge. Even before Merz made his comments, the United States had hinted it may withdraw troops from Europe and downsize its nuclear deterrence there, just as concerns rise that Putin may test the alliance by invading small members like Estonia or Latvia. What’s significant is that Germany has stepped up, so has Europe, Orban is out, Ukraine is degrading Russia, and Merz will continue to put money where his mouth is. Reprinted from  [email protected]  – Diane Francis on America and the World. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.  Diane Francis is an award-winning columnist, bestselling author, investigative journalist, and television commentator. She writes twice weekly at  https://dianefrancis.substack.com/  and is Editor at Large with the National Post and Postmedia newspapers writing twice weekly. She is Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Eurasia section, in Washington DC. She has written pieces for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Daily Beast, Politico, Miami Herald and the New York Post. In addition she is a Distinguished Professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management and has been a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. In 1991, she became Editor of Canada's Financial Post, the first woman editor of a national daily newspaper in Canada, a position she held until the paper was sold in 1998.