INTERNACIONAL
Trump effect forces Germany to reprioritize defense as nation plays catch-up in military spending
President Donald Trump’s continued criticism of Germany’s failure to pay its defense bills looks to have pushed one of Europe’s wealthiest nations into action.
The president’s criticism of Berlin has compelled Germany to increase funding for its military forces and infrastructure, which critics say are in a bad state of affairs.
Richard Grenell, U.S. Ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital «multiple German leaders ignored the warnings from President Trump that Russia was using energy as a weapon against them.
US BRISTLES AT GERMANY’S DEFENSE BUDGET PLANS AFTER IT FALLS SHORT
«The war in Ukraine and the invasion of Putin showed the new German leadership that Donald Trump was absolutely right about Germany feeding the beast that ultimately turned on them,» he added.
Trump appointed Grenell as presidential envoy for «special missions» in December.
During his first term, President Donald Trump waits to greet Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 17, 2017. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In 2018, Trump rebuked Germany’s addiction to Russian gas, according to observers of German-U.S. relations. He told the U.N. General Assembly that «Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course. Here in the Western Hemisphere, we are committed to maintaining our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers.»
During his remarks, the camera panned to Germany’s delegation to the U.N. in 2018, including its then-U.N. Ambassador, Christoph Heusgen, and former Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who all seemingly laughed and smiled at Trump.
‘MAKE NATO GREAT AGAIN’: HEGSETH PUSHES EUROPEAN ALLIES TO STEP UP DEFENSE EFFORTS
However, those smirks soon turned into raw anxiety, when four years later, in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and Germany scrambled for a way to wean itself off Russian gas to avoid helping reward Putin.
Matthew Kroenig, director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, told Fox News Digital, «Every U.S. presidential administration since Eisenhower has complained about European free riding, but asking «pretty please» has not worked. Trump’s tough rhetoric is achieving results that eluded his predecessors.
«The Trump effect is in part due to Trump raising NATO burden sharing to the very top of the transatlantic security agenda and in part due to genuine fears that Washington could abandon NATO and Europe would need to fend for itself.»
Soldiers from the German Armed Forces honorary guard are pictured during a reception with military honors Nov. 4, 2024, in Berlin, Germany. (Getty Images)
After Trump and Grenell helped to cajole the Germans out of their security slumber, Berllin reached the NATO goal of spending 2% of gross domestic product spending in 2024. This was the first time Berlin reached 2% since 1991, the end of the Cold War.
Trump, however, called for Germany to spend 5% on defense because, he argues, the U.S. is contributing significant resources to protect the central European country.
The frustration with Germany and other European allies was captured in text messages reported between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance.
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«I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC,» Hegseth said in response to Vance, who questioned U.S. leadership in advancing security policies in the Red Sea to counter Houthi aggression and reopen shipping lanes.
Germany’s export trade greatly benefits from free navigation in the Middle East, but it refuses to aid the U.S. in stopping the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist movement via military strikes. Europe and Germany are unwilling to follow Trump’s lead and sanction the Houthis as a terrorist entity.
Friedrich Merz, chairman of the Christian Democratic Union and a chancellor candidate, during a press conference after the federal election Feb. 24, 2025, in Berlin, Germany. (Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images)
The so-called Trump Effect has also affected the German parliament’s decision to relax restrictions on debt so it can pump funds into its military superstructure.
The likely new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, said he would do «whatever it takes» to rebuild Germany’s frail military. Berlin’s mainstream parties aim to invest hundreds of billions of euros in defense and infrastructure. Germany’s armed forces (Bundeswehr) are, according to reports, in a state of disarray, with a mere 181,174 soldiers at the end of last year. Germany’s Defense Ministry seeks to expand its armed forces to 203,000 by 2031.
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Recruitment remains an ongoing challenge within a population raised on pacifism. After Germany started two World Wars in the last century, Germany’s power politics stressed the role of multilateral institutions like the U.N. and diplomacy in remedying conflicts.
Conscripted armored infantrymen stand at attention while dressed in their camouflage uniforms during an exercise as part of the basic training of the German Bundeswehr on the premises of the Knuell Barracks in Schwarzenborn, Germany, in April 2005. (Frank May/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
The Associated Press recently reported that Germany’s parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Eva Högl, said, «The biggest problem is boredom. She added «If young people have nothing to do, if there isn’t enough equipment and there aren’t enough trainers, if the rooms aren’t reasonably clean and orderly, that deters people, and it makes the Bundeswehr unattractive.»
In an interview earlier this month with German news outlet WELT, the German historian Michael Wolffsohn, who taught at the Bundeswehr University Munich, said of Germany and Western Europe’s failure over the decades to address its severe defense deficits, «Now we get the receipt for everything we neglected.»
Fox News Digital sent a detailed press query to the German Foreign Ministry about Trump’s criticism that Berlin has chronically underinvested in defense and remained wedded to Putin’s gas supply after his warnings.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
Manifestantes se movilizan hacia la Casa Blanca con críticas a Trump por los ataques a Irán
Cientos de manifestantes de distintas organizaciones sociales se movilizan este sábado hacia la Casa Blanca con críticas al presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, por los ataques a Irán.
Mientras crece el conflicto en Medio Oriente y también el temor en Estados Unidos a una guerra prolongada, en las inmediaciones de la casa del gobierno estadounidense se concentran cientos de personas que, con banderas y carteles, protestan contra la decisión de Trump de atacar Irán.
El mandatario estadounidense es blanco de críticas en Washington por haber ordenado la Operación Furia Épica (Operation Epic Fury) que, según un comunicado del Comando Central de Estados Unidos, es «la mayor concentración regional de poderío militar estadounidense en una generación».
Entre los manifestantes que gritan «no a la guerra en Irán» y sostienen carteles reclamándole a Trump que no arroje bombas a ese país también hay una buena cantidad de latinos que, en español, cantan «el pueblo unido jamás será vencido».
Mientras cada vez más manifestantes se suman a las protestas en la capital estadounidense, Trump sigue desde su residencia en Mar-a-Lago el minuto a minuto de la escalada de tensión tras el ataque a Irán.
La portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karoline Leavitt, informó que Trump ha estado toda la noche siguiendo la operación, bautizada por Estados Unidos como «Furia Épica», y que tuvo una llamada telefónica con el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu.
«El presidente y su equipo de seguridad nacional continuarán monitoreando de cerca la situación durante todo el día», declaró Leavitt.
President Donald J. Trump Monitors U.S. Military Operations in Iran: Operation Epic Fury, February 28, 2026 pic.twitter.com/OfnMkmBZ8G
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 28, 2026
El Gobierno distribuyó una primera fotografía que muestra una sala de crisis improvisada en Mar-a-Lago con cortinas negras y un mapa de Irán. Trump con saco y camisa pero sin corbata y una gorra con las siglas de USA (EE.UU., en inglés), estuvo acompañado por el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio; el director de la CIA, John Ratcliffe, y la jefa de gabinete de la Casa Blanca, Susie Wiles, además de otros asesores.
Desde la Casa Blanca, en Washington, siguieron el operativo el vicepresidente, JD Vance, junto a la directora de Inteligencia Nacional, Tulsi Gabbard, y el secretario del Tesoro, Scott Bessent, entre otros.
President Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago alongside members of his national security team. The President spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu by phone.
Prior to the attacks, Secretary Rubio called all members of the gang of eight to provide congressional…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 28, 2026
Mar-a-Lago es la residencia donde Trump suele pasar los fines de semana y desde allí ofreció de madrugada el mensaje en video en el que anunció el lanzamiento del ataque contra Irán, cuyo objetivo último es la caída del régimen. Desde esa misma mansión, monitoreó el pasado 3 de enero el ataque estadounidense contra Venezuela que terminó con la captura de Nicolás Maduro.
Estados Unidos e Israel lanzaron este sábado un ataque contra objetivos en Teherán y otras ciudades en Irán, que respondió con el lanzamiento de misiles hacia territorio israelí y bases militares estadounidenses en toda la región.
Según el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, hay «señales» que apuntan a que el líder supremo iraní, Alí Jamenei, «dejó de existir» tras el ataque israelí a su residencia de este sábado.
El secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, notificó del ataque con antelación a siete de los ocho congresistas del llamado Grupo de los Ocho, del que forman parte los líderes republicanos y demócratas de la Cámara de Representantes y del Senado.
Varios legisladores demócratas han denunciado no haber sido avisados del ataque y acusan al Gobierno de iniciar una guerra encubierta sin pasar por el Congreso, que tiene la potestad de autorizar un conflicto bélico en el exterior.
Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want. Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.
Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/JmxZaC8vBr
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 28, 2026
Además de las críticas de legisladpres opositores y de las manifestaciones en las inmediaciones de la Casa Blanca, en las últimas horas se multiplicaron los cuestionamientos a Trump.
La exvicepresidenta Kamala Harris dijo que Trump «está arrastrando a Estados Unidos a una guerra que el pueblo estadounidense no desea». Y cerró: «Seamos claros: me opongo a una guerra de cambio de régimen en Irán, y nuestras tropas están siendo puestas en peligro por la guerra predilecta de Trump».
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The first missile in the U.S. arsenal used against Iranian targets in Saturday’s pre-dawn strike was the Tomahawk, a long-range cruise missile launched from Navy ships and submarines.
About half the length of a standard telephone pole, the Tomahawk flies at the speed of a commercial airliner and can carry a 1,000-pound warhead about the distance from Washington, D.C., to Miami.
Fired from destroyers or submarines positioned hundreds of miles away, the missiles allow a president to respond rapidly to a crisis without sending pilots into contested airspace or deploying ground forces.
The Tomahawk has become a go-to option for limited military action, because it offers precision and flexibility while keeping the U.S. footprint small. The missiles can hit fixed targets with high accuracy, reducing the risk of broader escalation.
Presidents of both parties have used Tomahawks in the opening hours of military operations, from strikes in Iraq in the 1990s to more recent operations in Syria and elsewhere.
Defense officials and military analysts say the weapon’s long range, reliability and relatively low risk to American personnel make it an attractive first-strike option when the White House wants to send a message quickly but stop short of a wider war.
That combination of speed, distance and precision has kept the Tomahawk at the center of U.S. military planning for decades.
The Tomahawk missile is manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, also known as RTX. (U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Manufactured by defense titan Raytheon — now RTX — the Tomahawk has been a mainstay of the Navy’s arsenal since the 1980s. It was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War and has since become a go-to option for presidents seeking to strike from long range without putting U.S. service members in harm’s way.
«Year in and year out, administration in and administration out, it’s the long-range land attack cruise missile that presidents reach for first in a crisis,» Thomas Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.
But heavy use has taken a toll. «We’ve been using them far more frequently than we’ve been producing them,» Karako said.
Prior to Saturday’s operation, the missile was used in June 2025 during a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Smoke rises after reported Iranian missile attacks, following strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Overall, the Tomahawk has been deployed more than 2,350 times.
At roughly $1.4 million apiece, the Tomahawk missile has an intermediate range of 800 to 1,553 miles and can be launched from more than 140 U.S. Navy ships and submarines.
The Tomahawk strike was just one piece of a broader U.S. military posture in the region.
Ahead of the strikes, the U.S. military amassed what Trump previously called an «armada» in Iran’s backyard. Mapped out across the Persian Gulf and beyond, the deployment tells its own story, one of calculated pressure backed by credible capability.
THE ONLY MAP YOU NEED TO SEE TO UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS TRUMP IS ABOUT IRAN
The deployment coincided with indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Trump has warned that the regime must fully dismantle its nuclear infrastructure or face consequences.
An F-35B takes off from the USS America flight deck. (Cpl. Isaac Cantrell/U.S. Marine Corps)
At the center of the U.S. presence are two aircraft carrier strike groups — the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford — each supported by guided-missile destroyers and cruisers and capable of sustained air and missile operations.
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More than a dozen additional U.S. warships are also operating in the region in support roles, according to defense officials.
It was not immediately clear how or when Tehran might respond, though Iranian leaders have previously warned of retaliation in the event of direct U.S. military involvement.
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INTERNACIONAL
Iranian ‘top target’ hit in $10M precision strike; US kamikaze drones used to ‘overwhelm’
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Israel struck its key target in Tehran Saturday in what a defense expert has described as a multimillion-dollar precision-guided attack alongside a broader offensive involving U.S. waves of lower-cost kamikaze drones.
Cameron Chell, CEO of drone manufacturer Draganfly, told Fox News Digital the campaign would have likely paired advanced and costly assets against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound, while U.S. forces used cheaper drones to «overwhelm» on land, air and sea.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also confirmed that the drones were deployed for the first time in history.
«CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike — for the first time in history — is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury,» it said in an X post before adding that the «low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.»
«Saturday saw an overwhelming daytime attack with incredible intelligence to target the leadership and a strike on the compound possibly costing tens of millions,» Chell said.
«That would likely have included expensive, precision-strike drones or manned aircraft in highly coordinated attacks to ensure success, not necessarily the lower-cost, one-way version of the suicide drones,» he explained.
«The U.S. has this lower-cost alternative to hit everything at once, but then the very expensive, high-precision assets would likely have gone directly after leadership on Saturday,» Chell added.
A map of Western strikes against Iran (Fox News)
A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the compound strike was a «wildly bold daytime attack.»
«It caught the senior leadership off guard on a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on Shabbat in the daytime,» the official added.
«We hit the senior leaders right out of the gate,» the source told Fox national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin.
Iran’s military, government and intelligence sites were targeted, an official briefed on the operation also told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A handful of top Iranian leaders were killed, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
AYATOLLAH’S ARSENAL VS. AMERICAN FIREPOWER: IRAN’S TOP 4 THREATS AND HOW WE FIGHT BACK
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the public on the 47th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, according to Iranian state television in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 9, 2026. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump also announced Saturday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strike.
«If drones were involved in that top target attack, it would have been the very sophisticated MQ-type or Global Hawk-type drones,» Chell said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said other attacks across the country were being done «to remove threats.»
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, those targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control centers, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
Chell described how those secondary targets would have been hit by the U.S. with the cheaper one-way «kamikaze» drones before adding that the strikes «seemed to be an excellent example of mass overwhelm at a new level.»
IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine monitors U.S. military operations in Iran after an Israeli strike in Tehran alongside several Cabinet members Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (@WhiteHouse/X)
Chell suggested Iran’s defenses were likely degraded well before the strike began because of the coordination.
«I think likely the defense systems, communication systems, were overwhelmingly compromised,» he added. «And so I think they just overwhelmed them,» he said.
«I’m sure there would have been days, if not even weeks, of work and preparation to take out those defense communication systems.
«They would have compromised those defense communications in some way through electronic warfare or cyberattack.
«The battlefield now is so multidimensional,» Chell emphasized.
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«It’s about cyber warfare, misinformation and electronic warfare as well.
«This was seemingly so swift because it was incredibly well-planned and coordinated by the U.S. and Israel on a massive level that’s not been seen before.»
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