German leader calls on US, Europe to revive trans-Atlantic trust together

AP

Munich

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Friday for the United States and Europe to “repair and revive trans-Atlantic trust together,” arguing that being part of NATO is also to America’s advantage.

Merz acknowledged a rift in trans-Atlantic relations over the past year as he opened the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of top global security figures. Last year’s gathering set the tone for growing differences between the Trump administration and Europe. This year’s meeting brings together top European officials with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and many others.

At last year’s conference, held a few weeks into US President Donald Trump’s second term, Vice President JD Vance stunned European leaders by lecturing them about the state of democracy on the continent.

A series of statements and moves from the Trump administration targeting allies followed in the months after that, including Trump’s threat last month to impose new tariffs on several European countries in a bid to secure US control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. The president later dropped that threat.

With Rubio heading the US delegation this year, European leaders can hope for a less contentious approach more focused on traditional global security concerns.

Before departing for Germany on Thursday, Rubio had some reassuring words as he described Europe as important for Americans.

“We’re very tightly linked together with Europe,” he told reporters. “Most people in this country can trace both, either their cultural or their personal heritage, back to Europe. So, we just have to talk about that.”

But Rubio made clear it wouldn’t be business as it used to be, saying: “We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to reexamine what that looks like.”

Rubio arrived in Munich Friday and is due to address the conference on Saturday morning.

Since last year’s Munich conference, NATO allies have agreed under pressure from Trump to a large increase in their defence spending target.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said there has been a “shift in mindset,” with “Europe really stepping up, Europe taking more of a leadership role within NATO, Europe also taking more care of its own defence.”