Friedrich Merz, the leading candidate for Germany’s chancellorship, has issued a stark warning that Europe must prepare itself to defend the continent without relying on the United States.
“We must prepare for the possibility that Donald Trump will no longer unconditionally support NATO’s mutual defense commitment,” Merz stated, as reported by Politico.
“For this reason, in my view, it is crucial that Europeans make the greatest possible efforts to ensure that we are at least capable of defending the European continent on our own.”
Growing Concerns Over U.S. Commitment to NATO
In recent days, Trump has appeared increasingly aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, blaming Ukraine rather than the Kremlin for initiating the full-scale invasion in 2022.
These comments followed U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s remarks at the Munich Security Conference, where he characterized Russia as Europe’s primary security threat.
European leaders have since expressed mounting concerns that they can no longer rely on the U.S. and NATO’s collective defense clause, which has underpinned European security since the Cold War.
Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is currently leading in the polls ahead of Germany’s upcoming elections. He emphasized that Europe must collectively prepare for the possibility that a second Trump administration might not support NATO’s Article 5, which obligates member states to mutual defense.
A Shift Toward European Self-Reliance
When asked whether he believes Trump will uphold NATO’s collective defense principle, Merz responded: “I wouldn’t bet everything I own on any question put to me, and certainly not on this one.”
Pressed on whether Germany should seek security under France’s nuclear umbrella, Merz acknowledged that French President Emmanuel Macron had repeatedly extended such an offer to Berlin, only for previous German governments to leave the issue unresolved.
“We need to have discussions with both the British and the French—the two European nuclear powers—about whether nuclear sharing, or at the very least the nuclear security provided by the United Kingdom and France, could also apply to us,” he said.
Merz’s remarks reflect a broader shift in European defense policy discussions as concerns grow over a potential realignment in U.S. foreign policy under Trump. With uncertainty surrounding Washington’s commitment to NATO, European leaders may be forced to accelerate military cooperation and strengthen their own defense capabilities.
