Mar 27, 2026, 9:14 p.mMar 27, 2026, 9:14 p.m
Friedrich Merz accuses Donald Trump.Image: keystone
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has personally sharply attacked US President Donald Trump for his actions in the Iran war. “What Trump is doing at the moment is not de-escalation and an attempt to find a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an open outcome,” said Merz at the “FAZ Congress 2026”.
“These are escalations that are already threatening. Not just for those affected, but for all of us.”
Merz does not believe in regime change
Merz also doubted that the leadership in Iran could be overthrown. “Is regime change really the goal?” he asked.
“If that is the goal, I don’t think they will achieve it. That usually went wrong.”
He is not convinced that what the USA and Israel did in the Iran war can lead to success.
US President Trump had previously criticized Germany for the lack of help in securing the Strait of Hormuz. He found it “inappropriate” that the German side said: “This is not our war.” The Republican said this on Thursday during a cabinet meeting in the White House. Trump did not name a specific name, but attributed the statement to the top (“the head of Germany”). The sentence originally came from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD).
Unacceptable treatment
Merz said that this formulation was too simple for him. “Of course the consequences of this war are also consequences that we have to bear, very immediate,” he said. He referred to Iran’s missiles that can reach over 3,000 kilometers and could hit Europe. “So these are serious threats that we have to protect ourselves against.”
But Merz also described what he said to Trump in a phone call on Sunday about his criticism of the allies’ lack of help: “I told him, if you want us to help, please ask us beforehand, upfront (in advance), and not through the newspapers afterwards. This is a way of dealing with things that we simply cannot accept. We won’t allow that either.”
No NATO war
According to the Chancellor, Trump has accepted that NATO allies will not take part in the fighting. Merz said that the US President told him two or three times in the half-hour conversation: “I don’t need NATO.” (I don’t need NATO.) Merz said:
“So I think he understood that. This is not a NATO war.”
However, after the end of the war, he promised Trump help in securing the Strait of Hormuz militarily. Merz also said that he could specifically imagine the Bundeswehr being deployed for mine clearance.
Merz can imagine demining
«We can do that. And if we are asked about it and it happens within the framework of a real collective security mandate – i.e. United Nations, NATO, European Union – with a Bundestag resolution, that is an option,” he said. The Bundeswehr has several minehunting boats.
Merz also pointed out that the Strait of Hormuz is “obviously not being mined at all” at the moment. He also doesn’t know whether Iran is planning that. “So we’re discussing things quite theoretically here.”
No forecast for the end of the war
Merz also did not want to make a prediction as to when the war might end. The following thought has been going through his head for days: in wars that last a few days, the biggest problem is the last two years.
“So I hope every day that it will come to an end at some point, but at the moment the Americans and the Israelis are getting more deeply entangled in this conflict every day.”
(sda/dpa)