Deborah Cole

And even Barack Obama would tell Angela Merkel, look, you know, and they had a very good relationship, you know, would say, look, he didn't sort of use the word, you know, freeloading and things Trump has reached for.

But he did, Obama tried to impress on the Europeans, particularly the Germans, that they needed to step up.

And that message was quietly ignored for a very long time.

And then Trump became kind of a wake-up call for the Europeans.

And when German Chancellor Friedrich Maatz was elected on election night, in his first speech, after it became clear that he was going to be the next leader of Germany, he used the word independence from the United States, which was really shocking for a lot of people to hear.

That was sort of the headline, that this was a recognition that this historic relationship that was built on

trust and a sense of German reliance on the Americans, but also an understanding that, you know, the Americans saw their future also as rooted in the stability and success of Europe, that that was breaking apart more quickly than anyone could imagine, and that the Germans were going to have to react to this new reality.

So Marsburg is in Friedrich Merz's constituency.

And Friedrich Merz, he has a way sometimes of...

Forgetting that he's the German chancellor and that if he is speaking to a classroom full of pupils in his, you know, backyard, that that is going to reach the entire world instantly, including the Oval Office.

So he chose this moment to announce at least a strong shift in tone in terms of his approach to Donald Trump and to this US-Israeli military action in Iran.

And his choice of words, he chose some provocative words.

That the Americans were being outmaneuvered and that they were being humiliated by Iran.

And Donald Trump likes to be flattered and he certainly doesn't like to be told that he's being humiliated here.

So Trump was very quick to respond to these comments.

Well, it fits not only a broader pattern of Trump threatening to reduce the U.S.

true presence in Europe.

I think in general, it reflects an attitude towards Europe that this alliance that has existed since the Second World War exists.

is no longer in US interest, according to him.

And he has very much painted the defense of Ukraine as being a European problem.