For 2027, the government is planning total expenditure of €555.4 billion, of which €109.7 billion, or around 20 percent, will be dedicated to defense spending. That share is set to grow in the coming years with €183.7 billion to be spent on defense in 2030 out of a projected €635.4 billion total.
The 2027 spending plan was unveiled ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Ankara, where European leaders are expected to try to convince U.S. President Donald Trump that they are committed to boosting military spending and taking greater responsibility for Europe’s defense.
“The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday. He then singled out several European countries, including Germany, referring to their defense expenditure as “Ridiculous!”
Merz hit back at Trump the following day.
“Germany is doubling its defense budget within four years,” Merz said in Berlin. “This is the greatest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defense capabilities. In that regard, we have nothing to hide from anyone.”
Germany in 2025 relaxed its constitutional debt brake in 2025 — which limits the federal deficit to 0.35 percent of GDP — by exempting a large share of defense spending from the rule to allow for a massive increase in military expenditure. But it’s unclear whether German public support for the increased spending will endure in the coming years, particularly as Klingbeil is likely to need to find cuts in other parts of the budget.