Germany cannot be ashamed of its defense effort, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Berlin on Friday, after Donald Trump called NATO spending levels “ridiculous” and suggested the United States may stop carrying a disproportionate share of the alliance’s burden. The exchange, which comes as NATO leaders prepare to meet in Ankara next week, is the latest sign that the transatlantic alliance is being tested not by an external enemy but by its own largest member.
Merz said Germany is doubling its defense budget within four years, the biggest single investment in military capability the country has ever made. “We have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said, responding to Trump’s claim that Germany and other European allies are not pulling their weight.
Trump did not hold back. On Truth Social, he posted a chart comparing NATO members’ defense spending as a share of GDP 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 called out Germany directly, saying its contribution was “MUCH LOWER” than the American one and calling the situation “Ridiculous!”
The public spat is not just about numbers. It comes at a moment when the United States is actively reducing its military footprint in Europe, and European allies are scrambling to fill the gaps.
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe confirmed this week that European members have “largely filled” the gaps left by the United States in the alliance’s defense plans. American forces are reducing their availability for NATO missions, and the alliance is looking at workarounds to add capabilities that Washington is no longer offering: from fighter aircraft and tanker planes to intelligence-sharing and missile defense.
European allies have been negotiating for months over how to replace these capabilities. The US wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defense by 2027, according to reports. But the timeline is tight, and the gap between what Europe can field now and what it needs is still wide.
Merz’s defense of Germany’s record reflects a broader frustration among European leaders who feel they are doing more than they get credit for. Germany’s doubling of its defense budget comes after years of underinvestment. The country has also committed to hosting a permanent brigade and has led NATO’s eastern flank battlegroup in Lithuania. But Trump’s demand, reportedly that all NATO members spend 5 percent of GDP on defense, is one that virtually no ally meets, including the United States itself.
Behind the public arguments lies a structural change in how NATO operates. For decades, the alliance was built around the assumption that the United States would provide the bulk of high-end capabilities: air power, intelligence, surveillance, aerial refueling, and command-and-control. European allies focused on ground troops and territorial defense. That division of labor is breaking down.
The Ankara summit, scheduled for next week, was meant to showcase NATO’s unity in the face of Russian aggression and instability across the Middle East. Instead, it may become a stage for the alliance’s internal tensions. Trump has not said whether he plans to attend in person.
European officials have been careful not to escalate the rhetoric. They know they still rely on the United States for nuclear deterrence and high-end technology. But the repeated pattern of Trump publicly berating allies, then demanding they do more, then reducing American contributions, is wearing down even the most patient governments in Europe.
A senior European diplomat put it plainly: “We are filling the gaps because we have to, not because we want to. But every time we fill one, Trump opens another.”
The question for Ankara is whether the alliance can project confidence while its most powerful member is openly questioning its value. NATO has survived crises before. What is different this time is that the crisis is not about an external threat but about whether the largest member still believes the alliance serves its interests.