President Donald Trump escalated his confrontation with Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, telling him to focus on rebuilding his country and negotiating with Russia rather than what Trump called interfering in Iran matters. The rebuke came as Trump signaled he may revisit the US military footprint across Europe more broadly.
During a meeting with conservative media outlets at the White House, Trump suggested he was open to withdrawing American forces from bases in Spain and Italy, claiming both nations have failed to support US interests. "Yeah, probably," Trump said when asked directly about pulling troops. "Why shouldn't I? Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible."
The president's latest attack on Merz follows earlier comments that US troop levels in Germany itself are under review. Trump did not specify what reduction might look like, but the remarks rekindled tensions with a key NATO ally.
The German government moved quickly to defuse the situation. Officials noted that Trump had made similar threats about European troop withdrawals during his first term and said they were prepared for any such moves. Merz himself struck a more diplomatic tone later Thursday at a military base in Munster, emphasizing the importance of NATO ties and US partnership while criticizing Iran's refusal to engage in peace talks.
Trump's inflammatory comments appeared triggered by Merz's blunt assessment earlier in the week that the United States was being humiliated by Iran and lacked a coherent strategy in the conflict. The chancellor's public criticism evidently caught Trump's attention and prompted the sharp personal response.
The spat underscores growing friction within the Atlantic alliance over the conduct and costs of Trump's Iran operations. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced criticism from Senate Democrats for offering what one lawmaker called "dangerously exaggerated" claims about military success in the theater, adding another layer of discord over the real trajectory of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Trump moved swiftly on other fronts. He signed bipartisan legislation Thursday that ended the Department of Homeland Security's 75-day shutdown, one of the longest agency-wide closures on record. The bill funded most DHS operations but excluded immigration enforcement activities, and its passage helped ease deep fractures within Republican ranks that had threatened airport security operations.
In a diplomatic gesture toward the United Kingdom, Trump announced the removal of all tariffs on whisky imports following King Charles and Queen Camilla's White House visit, citing Scotland's and Kentucky's shared bourbon and whisky traditions.
On voting rights, southern states began rushing to redraw congressional districts after the Supreme Court's Wednesday decision severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. Advocates who fought for majority-minority districts acknowledged the ruling essentially erased decades of civil rights protections embedded in voting map law.
The Trump administration also partially moved forward on cannabis reclassification. Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order moving state-licensed medical cannabis and FDA-approved cannabis products from Schedule I to Schedule III, though the limited scope of the change left industry players confused about what comes next.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr denied that ABC's early license renewal application at eight stations was retaliation for Jimmy Kimmel's joke about Trump, despite speculation from critics who saw the timing as punitive.
Senate Democrats blasted the EPA's budget proposal as what they called a "climate change denier's manifesto," accusing the Trump administration of gutting the agency's core environmental protection mission through requested cuts that would slash its budget in half.
A federal appeals court declined to grant a rare full-bench hearing on Trump's appeal of the $83 million civil judgment in the E Jean Carroll defamation case, letting the verdict stand.
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's picking fights with allies over Iran while dodging accountability for past military decisions signals deeper problems ahead for both American credibility and Republican unity on foreign policy."
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