BERLIN — A new Trump presidency and war on European soil have pushed Germany to make a dramatic shift: it’s now planning to build Europe’s largest military. For decades, Germany spent only 1–2% of GDP on defense, falling short of NATO commitments. But President Trump’s recent warning — that the U.S. might not defend allies who don’t pay their share — sparked urgency in Berlin.Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced a constitutional change and a $117 billion special fund to boost defense spending to 3.5% of GDP — matching the U.S. Germany aims to spend nearly $400 billion on defense through 2029 without cutting social programs, thanks to the constitutional suspension of the “debt brake.”> “Building up our military is our top priority,” Merz told parliament. “Germany is Europe’s biggest economy; nothing less is expected of us.”This marks a historic shift for a country with a pacifist tradition since World War II. Changing public attitudes will take time, says Claudia Major of the German Marshall Fund:> “The DNA of a country — how it views military force — takes a generation to change.”Meanwhile, defense companies like Quantum Systems, which makes drones used by Ukraine and German forces, are seeing booming sales. But buying weapons is only part of the challenge: Germany’s Bundeswehr still needs to recruit and train more soldiers.At a Berlin job fair, recruiter Marco Mann said the public’s attitude toward the military is improving. Jobseeker Abdul Rehman Saeed, a German citizen born in Pakistan, said he wants to give back by joining as an IT specialist:> “Germany gave me the life I wanted. I feel responsible to give back.”Germany is already the third-largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine and has welcomed 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees. Now, with expanded funding and public support shifting, the country hopes to transform its armed forces into Europe’s strongest — and restore military prestige at home and abroad.
