Trump launches fresh attack on Merz after threatening US troop reduction in Germany – as it happened

… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!

• US president Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of German chancellor Friedrich Merz, telling him to “spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken country” after Merz’s criticism of the US war against Iran (15:46).

• Trump’s latest outburst comes a day after he suggested the US military presence in Germany was being reviewed with a “possible reduction” under consideration and a decision expected to be made shortly (10:01).

• The falling out between the two leaders appears to have been caused by Merz’s unusually blunt comments earlier this week in which he said the US is being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership, and criticised the US for no exit strategy from the war.

• Without offering a direct response to Trump’s comments, the German chancellor sought to strike a notably different and more conciliatory tone at a visit to a German military base in Munster, stressing the importance of ties with Nato and the US, and criticising Iran for refusing to take part in peace negotiations (12:44).

• Trump’s renewed attack on Merz’s record in government comes just days before his first anniversary in office (15:46).

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Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul insisted that Germany was prepared for any decision from the US amid Donald Trump’s threats he could pull out some troops from the country and harsh criticism of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

Speaking during his visit to Morocco, he said in comments reported by AFP:

“We are prepared for that, we are discussing it closely and in a spirit of trust in all Nato bodies, and we are expecting decisions from the Americans about this.”

Any such decisions would “be discussed with us and with others, as is proper among allies”, he said.

While saying he was “relaxed” about the idea of fewer US troops in Germany, Wadephul said that large American bases in Germany are “not up for discussion at all”.

He said for example that the Ramstein airbase had “an irreplaceable function for the United States and for us alike”.

Since we didn’t hear much more from Merz on Trump and his threats of moving US soldiers out of Germany, we need to turn to our colleague, Jon Henley, to help us understand this latest crisis.

In his helpful expainer, he answers key questions on how US soldiers ended up in Germany, just how many of them are there, and why they are important.

But he also crucially note that this is not the first time Trump makes similar comments about Germany; in fact, he has done it more than once before.

“In 2020 during his first term in the White House, apparently infuriated by Germany’s low defence spending and support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, he called Germany “delinquent” and said he would slash US troop numbers there by a third.

Trump’s announcement gave no details whatsoever and appeared to take both the Pentagon and the state department, not to mention their counterparts in Berlin and senior Nato officials, completely by surprise. None were reportedly informed of the decision.

Trump’s plan was to send some of the troops home and redeploy others to countries such as Poland and Italy. But it faced bipartisan pushback in Congress, and huge logistical hurdles. President Joe Biden froze the putative plan in February 2021 and later officially cancelled it.”

You can read Jon’s full briefing here:

Awkward.

Just as Merz wrapped up his event, Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on him, claiming the German chancellor should be spending more time on resolving the Ukraine conflict (where “he has been totally ineffective,” ouch) rather than “interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat”.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president wrote:

The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!), and 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! President DJT.”

Meanwhile, if you are planning your summer holidays in Europe this year and you are from a non-EU country – like, say, erm, Britain – you may face some potential issues during border checks.

My colleagues Alfie Packham and Nicola Slawson are reporting that some travellers passing through the new EU entry-exit system (EES) have faced huge delays at border checks, with some waiting for up to three hours, airports say.

The new rules have gradually been introduced in Europe since October 2025, and came into effect on Friday in the Schengen countries – 25 of the EU’s 27 states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Hundreds of people responded to a Guardian online callout to share their experiences of travelling to Europe since the rules came into effect. Though some said they had a problem-free journey, many reported severe delays, which have caused some to miss their flights.

You can read more on this here:

Responding to the interception, Italy has condemned the move and demanded the immediate release of all Italians who have been “unlawfully detained,” Reuters reported.

In a statement, Rome urged Israel to respect international law and guarantee the safety of those on board. It did not say how many Italians had been detained.

“The government reaffirms its commitment to continuing to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza within the framework of our cooperation and in accordance with international law,” the Italian government said in a statement.

Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo and Caitlin Cassidy

Israeli forces have intercepted and detained the crews of at least 22 boats near the Greek island of Crete from a flotilla that is attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of about 58 vessels carrying people from across 70 countries, departed from Italy on Sunday.

Flotilla organisers said in a press release:

“Israel’s actions … mark a dangerous and unprecedented escalation, the abduction of civilians in the middle of the Mediterranean, over 600 miles from Gaza, in full view of the world.”

In other news, the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday announced that 287 nominations had been submitted for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The list comprised 208 individuals and 79 organisations, it said, without identifying them.

“In an increasingly conflictual world, there is no lack of candidates whose principled commitment and innovative action points towards a brighter future,” the institute said in a statement quoted by AFP.

The exact names of nominees are not public, but AFP notes that those eligible to nominate – former laureates, lawmakers and cabinet ministers from any country in the world – may choose to make their candidates public.

And so looking at other people’s statements we can reasonably assume that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, and – yes – US president Donald Trump are somewhere on that list.

The winner will be announced on 9 October.

Meanwhile, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas responded to last night’s Trump-Putin phone call, saying that their discussions always appear to leave some questions unanswered.

Appearing at the NB8 meeting – that’s Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers – in Estonia, Kallas deeply sighed even before walking up to the podium to answer a question on the phone call, not exactly hiding what she thinks of these talks.

Kallas said that the peace talks on Ukraine appeared to be “stalling,” and she wasn’t clear if any meaningful progress was made in Trump’s call with Putin either.

“When we see these calls between president Trump and president Putin, always there are a lot of questions unanswered,” she said.

She also noted the paradox of these talks given “Russia is openly praising the heroic [fight] of Iran against America.”

She said the EU would like more pressure to be put on Russia and “we didn’t see that in that call.”

Earlier, she said the EU was looking into “what are the requests that we have for Russia for after this war is over” before it can conduct meaningful negotiations with Moscow.

Meanwhile, the issue of the US deployment in Europe also came up during the European Commission’s daily briefing in Brussels.

“The deployment of US troops in Europe is also in the US interest in support of its global role,” the commission’s lead security and foreign affairs spokesperson Anitta Hipper said.

She added that the US is “a vital partner in contributing to Europe’s security and defence.”

Hipper also pointed out that Germany and other European Nato allies are “increasing their defence spending in an unprecedented pace.”

In the last half hour, Merz gave a brief press statement after his visit to the German army in Munster, in which he called for “a reliable transatlantic partnership” – without offering a direct response to Trump’s comments overnight.

But indirectly there was a lot there that will be read as his indirect response, as he repeatedly stressed the importance of the partnership with the US, of Nato, and of common transatlantic goals.

Merz talked at length about the task of reforming the Bundeswehr to be ready to “fight tonight,” and “prepare for the challenges of tomorrow and the day after.”

He repeatedly and pointedly stressed Germany’s commitment to “a strong, united Nato,” and noted joint work conducted with the US and other Nato allies. A senior US Armed Forces commander was in Muster just yesterday, he noted.

On Iran, he struck a notably different tone than earlier this week (10:01, 10:18), putting the pressure solely on the regime, and saying it “must come to the negotiating table” and “must no longer take the region and ultimately the world hostage” to its interests.

On Iran, he said, Germany worked “in close contact with our partners,” including – again, specifically singed out – Washington and the US.

“We do this in our common transatlantic interest, with mutual respect and fair burden sharing,” he said.

He added that the German position was aligned with the focus on “a strong Nato and a reliable transatlantic partnership,” which he stressed was “particularly close to my heart.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to Trump’s comments after his phone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

In a post on social media, he said he instructed his team to contact Trump’s aides to “clarify the details of Russia’s proposal for a short-term ceasefire.”

“Ukraine seeks peace and is doing the necessary diplomatic work to bring this war to a real end. We will clarify what exactly this is about – a few hours of security for a parade in Moscow, or something more.”

This, obviously, is a swipe at Moscow’s decision to hold Victory Day parade next week with no military hardware because of fears of a long-range attack by Ukrainian drones.

Zelenskyy continued:

“Our proposal is a long-term ceasefire, reliable and guaranteed security for people, and a lasting peace. Ukraine is ready to work toward this in any dignified and effective format.”

US president Donald Trump threatened to reduce the number of troops deployed in Germany last night, after chancellor Friedrich Merz said this week that the US was being “humilitated” by Iran.

Trump said the US was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time.”

Earlier yesterday, he posted a separate criticism of Merz’s Germany, saying:

“The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, 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! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

His comments come just hours after Trump’s phone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and – which is likely to be of significance - after Merz repeatedly criticised Trump’s decision to start the Iran war and partially blamed it for Germany’s worse than expected economic results.

At a recent meeting with high school students, Merz said that the US was “being humiliated” by Iran’s leadership through taking part in negotiations that come to nothing, and that the war “is costing us a lot of money … and a lot of economic strength.”

“This war against Iran has a direct impact on our economic performance, and for that reason it must be brought to an end as soon as possible,” he said.

Ouch.

He still insisted that his relationship with Trump was good though, but not sure that’s the case any more.

Let’s see if we are going to hear a reaction from Germany today.

Elsewhere, I will look out for comments on Trump’s phone call with Putin – including his suggestions that Ukraine is “defeated” and that Putin was working on some sort of temporary ceasefire.

It’s Thursday, 30 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.