--- title: Trump Lashes Out at Merz After Threatening to Pull Troops From Germany Amid Escalating Row description: The tensions between Merz and Trump are the latest indication of Europe splintering from the U.S. amid the Iran war. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/trump-germany-threat-troops-removal-merz-row-iran-war/ author: Tiago Ventura article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-04-30T15:52:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-30T19:59:51.583Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Lashes Out at Merz After Threatening to Pull Troops From Germany Amid Escalating Row og:description: The tensions between Merz and Trump are the latest indication of Europe splintering from the U.S. amid the Iran war. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/trump-germany-threat-troops-removal-merz-row-iran-war/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd609ebc4d162fb/69f3617d49bc985b6840e3e2/GettyImages-2264602063.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4322 og:image:height: 2431 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2264602063.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Lashes Out at Merz After Threatening to Pull Troops From Germany Amid Escalating Row twitter:description: The tensions between Merz and Trump are the latest indication of Europe splintering from the U.S. amid the Iran war. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd609ebc4d162fb/69f3617d49bc985b6840e3e2/GettyImages-2264602063.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Lashes Out at Merz After Threatening to Pull Troops From Germany Amid Escalating Row > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tiago Ventura](https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/)  ## Tiago Ventura Apr 30, 2026 3:52 PM UTC  German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on March 3, 2026. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on March 3, 2026. Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Tiago Ventura](https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/)  ## Tiago Ventura Apr 30, 2026 3:52 PM UTC President Donald Trump has told German Chancellor [Friedrich Merz](https://time.com/7378512/united-states-europe-divide-warning-merz-trump-rubio/) to focus on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and matters within his own country rather than “interfering” with the Iran war. "The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine. where he has been totally ineffective, and fixing his broken country, especially Immigration and energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran nuclear threat," [said](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116493939901285486) Trump Thursday morning. Hours earlier, Trump had warned he may pull troops from Germany. “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” he [said](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116490196510215628). As of December 2025, there were 36,436 U.S. active-duty personnel stationed in Germany, the highest number in any foreign country outside of Japan, according to [data](https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports) from the U.S. ⁠Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). During a visit to troops at a military base in Munster, Germany, on Thursday, Merz didn’t directly address the friction but reiterated the importance of the transatlantic partnership. “On all these \[world\] issues, we maintain close and trusting contact with our partners, including—and especially—those in Washington,” [said](https://x.com/dw%5Fpolitics/status/2049811400747311540) Merz. “We do this in the shared transatlantic interest. We do so with mutual respect and a fair sharing of the burden.” He added that the focus of Germany remains on the cooperation between NATO partners, an alliance Trump has [threatened to leave](https://time.com/article/2026/04/01/trump-considering-pulling-us-out-of-nato-iran-war-legal-options/). “We are following a clear compass, especially during this turbulent phase, this compass remains focused on a strong NATO and a reliable transatlantic partnership,” he added. ### Europe splinters from Trump amid Iran war Tensions between Trump and Merz have been mounting in recent days, after the U.S. President took umbrage to the German Chancellor's critique of how the U.S. is handling negotiations with Iran. “The Americans clearly have no strategy, and the problem with conflicts like this is always that you don’t just have to go in; you also have to get out again,” Merz [said](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t9Mokj%5FzWaA) Tuesday during a visit to a school in Marsberg, northwestern Germany. Merz compared the conflict to previous U.S. interventions in the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Iraq—comparisons the Administration has strongly [rejected](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116438260195246849)—and described the current situation as “ill-considered.” “The Iranians are obviously very skilled ⁠at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad ​and then leave again without any result,” he argued. "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible.” Trump strongly rejected Merz’s assessment, insisting the German Chancellor “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” as he defended the war. “I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both economically, and otherwise,” he [said](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116483733181582907). Merz has since pointed out that the continued disruption to the Strait of Hormuz is having a devastating impact on European markets. Amid the global geopolitical instability, Germany is not alone in voicing frustration with the Trump Administration’s handling of the war. The U.K.’s top economic official recently berated Trump for entering the conflict without a [“clear exit plan,”](https://time.com/article/2026/04/14/uk-economic-official-berates-trump-iran-war-no-exit-plan/) lamenting the impact on British consumers. While a [fragile cease-fire](https://time.com/article/2026/04/28/trump-iran-war-update-peace-proposal-strait-of-hormuz-conflict/) between the U.S. and Iran remains in place, there is no clear path in sight for a durable end to the conflict. Furthermore, Trump has [repeatedly](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/trump-iran-war-nato-allies-strait-of-hormuz/) criticized NATO allies for refusing to get actively involved in the war. He [reiterated](https://youtu.be/4hLYFGv9ktM?t=722) to reporters on Wednesday that he was “very disappointed” with the alliance because “they weren’t there” to provide assistance. In the U.S., meanwhile, the price of the war is prompting concern. Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the conflict has already cost [at least $25 billion](https://time.com/article/2026/04/29/in-hostile-hearing-democrats-accuse-hegseth-of-misleading-trump-and-country-on-iran-war-progress/), adding pressure on Trump to find a path toward de-escalation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/trump-germany-threat-troops-removal-merz-row-iran-war/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/trump-germany-threat-troops-removal-merz-row-iran-war/"},"headline":"Trump Lashes Out at Merz After Threatening to Pull Troops From Germany Amid Escalating Row","datePublished":"2026-04-30T15:52:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-30T19:59:51.583Z","description":"The tensions between the two leaders are the latest indication of Europe splintering from the U.S. amid the Iran war.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/trump-germany-threat-troops-removal-merz-row-iran-war/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd609ebc4d162fb/69f3617d49bc985b6840e3e2/GettyImages-2264602063.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tiago Ventura","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd609ebc4d162fb/69f3617d49bc985b6840e3e2/GettyImages-2264602063.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2264602063.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/trump-germany-threat-troops-removal-merz-row-iran-war/","name":"Trump Lashes Out at Merz After Threatening to Pull Troops From Germany Amid Escalating Row"}}]}] ```