During his initial presidency, Donald Trump urged European nations, particularly Germany, to allocate more funds to defense. This advocacy is yielding results, notably in Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse.

Germany’s coalition government, comprising the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and the Social Democrats, recently settled on a new set of incentives aimed at boosting voluntary military enlistment. This decision followed intense discussions last week, driven by rising concerns over Russia’s growing threat to Europe.

The recruitment incentives include offering free driving licenses, which can be quite costly, sometimes amounting to several thousand dollars. Additionally, there is a proposed increase in the starting level pre-tax salary to approximately $3,000 monthly.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, Ahlen, new recruits participated in combat training during a media event for the Bundeswehr’s Reconnaissance Battalion 7. Politicians from the CDU/CSU and SPD have reached a consensus on implementing a nationwide draft for this new military service. (Photo by Federico Gambarini/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a leading figure in German conservatism, emphasized his vision to transform Germany’s military into “Europe’s strongest conventional army.” Jens Spahn, the CDU’s parliamentary leader, expressed the party’s ambition to attract numerous young individuals to serve their country, sharing this vision with reporters on Thursday.

Spahn added that if the voluntary model does not secure sufficient military soldiers and personnel, “we’ll need to make it obligatory” Spahn noted, however, that the move toward compulsory conscription would mean a new law would need to be passed.

David Wurmser, who worked for the U.S. Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer, as a lieutenant commander and was a former senior advisor for nonproliferation and Middle East strategy for Vice President Dick Cheney, told Fox News Digital that “Europe is finally beginning to contemplate defense and a more serious way.”

“While it has never been its official policy, over the last few decades, Europeans took for granted the American umbrella and the inconceivability of war to both largely minimize any defense burden they share, as well as placed themselves as some sort of moral conscience lording over the world that ranged into pacifism and impossible moral perfection. It is a good thing that they are now forced to start soberly thinking about their defense and what that might entail.”

President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025. ( Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

He added that “it is important that we in the United States begin to understand that the center of gravity of European civilization is shifting eastward. The fact that Germany, before Britain and France, seemed to appreciate the threat that it faces and the resulting need to stand up a more robust defense, is symbolic of that shift eastward.”

According to Wurmser, “Symbolically, Germany’s actions represent a realization that is long overdue, but is not yet universally understood. That what happened in February 2022, as well as what is happening in the Middle East against Israel, are only localized versions of a much larger, dangerous, and potentially deadly global competition that is led by several nations in opposition to western civilization.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, watches the Victory Day military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in Moscow. (Sergei Guneyev/Host Photo Agency via AP, File)

He said, “That axis represents the fusion of communist, Islamist, and fascist thought. That unholy alliance, which is an unlikely alliance, is anchored first and foremost to the loathing of Western civilization. The West will not survive unless it realizes that, and what Germany is doing is to some extent a first small step in that direction.”

Trump urged Germany to pay the U.S. more for its military defense of Germany during his first term.