German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he would like talks with France and Britain about sharing their nuclear weapons, but not as a substitute for U.S. nuclear protection of Europe.

Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, has warned Nato could be finished and Europe must prepare to build an alliance “independent” from the US.

A move to Europeanize the top NATO command post could be one way for President Donald Trump to signal he wants the United States to play a smaller role.

Europe is staring down the barrel of a stark new reality where the United States being the backbone of NATO – the alliance that has guaranteed the continent’s security since 1949 for almost 80 years – is no longer a given.

On Wednesday, 10-year German bonds saw the worst day since March 1990 — just months after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The rapid action by Friedrich Merz in the face of Donald Trump’s disruption highlights how the continent’s leaders need strategy as well as spending

Nato without America is out of the question and reports that the death of Nato is imminent have been greatly exaggerated, as is loose talk that the US is destroying the rules-based international order.

Germany's coalition agreed a landmark deal to exempt defense spending from its harsh debt brakes, in addition to unveiling a $535 billion infrastructure pledge.

Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fanned out to European capitals this month delivering what Hegseth characterized as a "stark" message to America's treaty allies: "Now is the time to invest [in defense], because you can't make an assumption that America's presence will last forever."

While polling suggests Germany's far-right AfD party will fare well, it's very unlikely to be part of the next government of Europe's biggest economy.