Joe Biden took office nearly four years ago with a promise to mend America’s relationship with Europe after years of strained ties during the Trump administration. Trump frequently targeted Germany in particular for its lagging defense spending, calling the country “delinquent.”
In a campaign rally earlier this year, Trump said he would not protect “delinquent” NATO allies from a potential Russian attack. “I would encourage them [the Russians] to do whatever the hell they want,” said Trump. “You gotta pay!”
This year, Germany said it would meet the NATO defense spending target of two percent of gross domestic product for the first time since the Cold War. In Berlin on Friday, Biden praised Germany for the reaching the target. “Please keep it up, because it matters,” he told Scholz.
Earlier in the day, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded Biden with the highest “Order of Merit.”
“Under your leadership, the transatlantic alliance has strengthened and our partnership is closer than ever before,” said Steinmeier. “In this friendship, there have been times of closeness and times of greater distance,” he added. “Just a few years ago, the distance had grown so far that we felt we might have lost each other.”
Biden also praised German leaders for providing more military aid to Ukraine than any other European country, and second only to the U.S.