U.S. President Donald Trump has again criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over Iran, telling Merz to stop interfering in the Middle East conflict and focus on domestic issues.
Trump said in an April 30 Truth Social post that Merz should "spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine" and on "fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place!"
The U.S. president made the remarks following a series of comments between the two G7 leaders over the Iran war.
Merz then on April 29 said that his personal relationship with Trump "remains good,” adding in comments to reporters that he “simply had doubts from the start about what was begun with the war in Iran.”
Germany Stepping Up on Defense
Germany's new military strategy document says that Berlin will take on “additional burdens,” including “targeted strategic responsibility for Europe at the conventional level.”“This increases Germany’s strategic weight for our Allies, particularly for the United States.”
The president has previously spoken about reducing troop numbers in Germany, saying in June 2020 that the deployment was expensive and unfair to American taxpayers.
As of December 2025, the United States had 36,436 active-duty troops stationed in Germany.
Trump said a decision is expected “over the next short period of time.”
Iran's Nuclear Weapons
Trump's initial criticisms of Merz stemmed from the German chancellor's comments that the United States had been humiliated by Tehran.“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” Merz said on April 27 during a talk to students in Marsberg, Germany.
“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,” he added.
The U.S. president then criticized Merz in a Truth Social post on April 28, saying that the German chancellor “thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage. 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!”
Merz has said that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon.
On April 30, Iran's leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to protect the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and missile capabilities.
“Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran’s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities—from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities—as national assets, and will protect them just as they protect the country’s waters, land and airspace,” Khamenei said, per a statement read by a news anchor on Iranian state television.