WHEN TRUMP ASKED THIS IT WAS AN ALLIANCE-DESTROYING BLUNDER: Why Does Germany Keep Neglecting Its Defense? “Why, despite Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, does Germany, the continent’s strongest economic power and a close U.S. ally, continue to neglect its defense? Simply put, as long as the United States serves as Europe’s primary security guarantor and Russia’s armed forces prove themselves inadequate, Germany has no reason to seriously reform their defense policy or invest in costly defense expenditures.”

That’s part of Berlin’s problem. The other part is that so much of Germany’s ruling class has financial ties to Moscow.