Merz Puts Europe’s Nuclear Arms at Heart of Transatlantic Reboot

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he’s in talks with France over potential European nuclear defense as he made a call to reorder the transatlantic relationship amid the turmoil of Donald Trump’s second term.

Kicking off the Munich Security Conference, Merz warned against a new era of great power politics and said that Germany and Europe need to bolster their security and independence together, while seeking partnerships with other regions to buoy the liberal order. But, he said, leaders must come to terms with the fact that the world has changed.