Politico EU

John Kampfner is a British author, broadcaster and commentator. His latest book “In Search of Berlin” is published by Atlantic. He is a regular POLITICO columnist.

“He’s a very good man to deal with. He is difficult, but he is a very great representative of Germany.”

Wannabe “macho bro” Chancellor Friedrich Merz beamed as U.S. President Donald Trump handed down his version of praise. The compliment could not have been more appreciated. Given that anything could have happened in the Oval Office — with many a humiliation already meted out to several world leaders — Merz emerged surprisingly unscathed. In fact, he did better than that: He acquitted himself as well as any visitor to MAGA HQ could.

Unlike French President Emmanuel Macron or British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — his two closest counterparts — he also avoided false pretense. He didn’t put his hand on Trump’s knee or whip out a royal letter. In fact, by comparison, his gift — a framed copy of Trump’s grandfather’s birth cer..

Five days after his election victory in February, Friedrich Merz’s world collapses. That’s how he will describe it later.

That Friday evening, he steps off the stage at a large conference center in Hamburg’s port, where cruise ships usually moor. He has just been hailed as “the future federal chancellor,” and more than a thousand party supporters have cheered on their chairman at a rally of the local chapter of the Christian Democratic Union, Germany’s main center-right party. At around 8:15 p.m., he shakes a few hands in farewell, then drops into the backseat of his official car for the three-hour drive home. It is February 28, 2025.

Merz checks his phone and notices a message from his spokesperson. He should watch a video, preferably immediately. Merz pulls out his iPad, opens the link, and recognizes a room familiar to anyone who follows politics. Two armchairs upholstered in gold damask sit in front of a fireplace with no fire burning. In front of the fireplace is a table made of..

U.S. President Donald Trump was triumphant Saturday night during his Oval Office address but within the administration the mood was less sanguine as officials braced for a potential Iran counterattack.

The decision to send American B-2 bombers to attack Iran, the most significant military action of Trump’s presidency, threatens to inject the United States into another Middle East conflict, the kind that Trump and Vice President JD Vance have long promised to avoid.

“We don’t know how much this is going to get us into something protracted,” said an administration official, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberation. “Right now the message is we want to get rid of the nuclear capacity and focus on negotiations.”

Trump over the last few days had become increasingly convinced that he had a rare opportunity to take out Tehran’s nuclear capability with minimal risk to U.S. personnel, according to a senior White House official.

Plans for the attack, which Trump..

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Friday that NATO “as it is, no longer has a reason to exist,” and that the EU does not count on the global stage.

Crosetto made the remarks on the sidelines of a conference in Padua, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

“Before, U.S. and Europe used to be the center of the world — now, there is everything else with which a relationship must be built,” he said, adding: “We often talk as if we were still living 30 years ago, but everything has changed.”

Crosetto’s comments come ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague next week, where the alliance is likely to agree on a higher spending target of 5 percent of GDP to placate U.S. President Donald Trump.

Among the leaders attending is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. At a meeting in Rome earlier this month with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, her office “reaffirmed support for Ukraine and the Atlantic Alliance’s role as an essential pillar for collective defence.”

But accor..

As Republicans battle over direct military engagement with Iran, prominent conservatives and allies of the president have emerged as forceful voices against intervening, lashing out at a host of political players — except for President Donald Trump.

Warring factions within the Republican Party have sought to pull Trump in opposing directions on how to deal with Iran. Isolationists are seeking to hold Trump to his repeated campaign promises to not involve the U.S. in another major Middle East war, while interventionists like Sen. Lindsey Graham have urged the president to go tougher on Iran — an approach that appears to be winning Trump’s favor.

Even as Republicans have spoken up against engaging in a conflict with Iran, criticizing everyone from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Graham for their role in the unfolding conflict, few dared to directly attack the president over his approach.

“Take screenshots of every single right winger who is shit talking Trump right now,” ..

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday warned that President Donald Trump may “take further action” to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and urged people who don’t support such action to trust the president.

Trump “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”

Iran has increased its uranium enrichment to near weapons-grade levels, according to a report from a United Nations nuclear watchdog. The country has been the subject of Israeli bombardment in recent days over its refusal to give up its nuclear capabilities.

The Trump administration has attempted to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran in recent months but talks halted after Israel struck Tehran last week.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!..

Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, is CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and host of the weekly podcast “World Review with Ivo Daalder.” He writes POLITICO’s From Across the Pond column.

In the next few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with America’s main allies for the first time since returning to office. On Sunday, he flew to Canada for the annual G7 meeting, and later this month, he’ll go to the Netherlands for the annual NATO Summit.

At both meetings, America’s allies will try to placate him on issues ranging from trade and security to the preservation of these forums as a means of coordination and cooperation in the face of critical challenges. And while Trump regularly sought to blow up such meetings in his first term, allies are growing confident they’ve done enough to avoid mishaps this time around.

Even if these meetings proceed without incident, however, they’d be wrong to assume all is right and well in their relations with the U.S. The gl..

President Donald Trump campaigned on ending what his base has long derided as U.S. foreign adventurism, leading the rebellion against an establishment that long favored international interventions.

Now some of his most vocal supporters fear Israel may have trampled his ability to make good on that promise.

The Jewish nation’s decision to conduct a pre-emptive strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities on Thursday night threatens to draw the United States into a Middle East conflict — and split the MAGA coalition that catapulted Trump back into the Oval Office.

While administration officials say the U.S. played no part in the offensive, it was unclear as of Thursday night whether the U.S. will be able to actually stay on the sidelines. Trump will almost certainly feel compelled to help defend Israel against counter-attacks by Iran.

And there are real questions about how Tehran — which was slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for the latest round of peace talks on Sunday —..

Could Elon Musk’s online slapfight with President Donald Trump put a dent in his global telecom ambitions?

Musk’s satellite broadband company Starlink has reaped massive gains since he became “first buddy” to Trump. Numerous countries have cut red tape to approve Starlink this year, some reportedly under pressure from Trump’s State Department. In some cases, countries appeared to be giving Starlink a green light in order to ingratiate themselves with the White House.

Vietnam approved the service in February. In early May, the Democratic Republic of Congo granted Starlink a license. Later that month, South Africa eased laws that required telecom companies to provide 30 percent equity to groups that were historically marginalized — which could allow Starlink to start service without meeting the requirement.

Now, Musk’s feud with Trump raises the question of how Starlink will fare in future negotiations. Will countries feel the need to let it in? Will Trump go to bat for the company?

..

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday announced an ambitious defense spending target that would end Canada’s status as a NATO laggard and mollify frustrated Americans.

Carney committed to meeting the alliance’s current spending target of 2 percent in 2025, half a decade ahead of Ottawa’s previous commitment.

Carney’s announcement comes less than a week before he hosts President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in Alberta. The accelerated spending also follows amplified calls from the U.S. president and his Canadian ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, for Ottawa to honor its unfulfilled 11-year-old commitment to the target.

Carney framed the new spending as a necessary response to a more dangerous world that has left Canada more vulnerable to threats in the Arctic — and less protected by Americans.

“A new imperialism threatens. Middle powers must compete for interests and attention, knowing that if they’re not at the table, they’re on the menu,” Carney said, repeating a go-to line from ..