Meeting the interim Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Berlin, Merz warned that an extended war “could [impose a] burden last seen in the Covid pandemic or at the start of the Ukraine war”. Trump hit out at Merz and his cabinet members as “cowards” after the German leader described US strategy in the region as “a massive, open-ended escalation”. “Iran could fire a ballistic rocket that could reach Berlin [yet] the German government doesn’t accept the risk from Iran,” said Grenell to Die Welt daily. “Let’s start that with the withdrawal of US troops from Germany,” said Thilo Chrupalla, an eastern German AfD co-leader. Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw some or all of the 38,000 US soldiers still stationed in Germany, a Nato holdover from the Cold War era and the German unification treaty.

Source: The Irish Times March 31, 2026 14:02 UTC