Germany–United States relations

Today, Germany and the United States are geopolitical and commercial trade partners. The two countries maintain a historically rooted but increasingly strained partnership. While they remain NATO allies with deep economic ties, public confidence in the relationship—especially in Germany—has deteriorated significantly amid disagreements over trade, security burdens, and foreign policy. In the mid and late 19th century, millions of Germans migrated to farms and industrial jobs in the United States, especially in the Midwest. Later, the two nations fought each other in World War I (1917–1918) and World War II (1941–1945). After 1945 the U ., with the United Kingdom and France, occupied Western Germany and built a demilitarized democratic society. West Germany achieved independence in 1949. It joined NATO in 1955, with the caveat that its security policy and military development would remain closely tied to that of France, the UK and the United States. While West Germany was becoming a Western Bloc state closely integrated with the U . and NATO, East Germany became an Eastern Bloc satellite state closely tied to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. After communist rule ended in Eastern Europe amid the Revolutions of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany was reunified and the allied powers subsequently restored full sovereignty to Germany with the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany. The reunified Federal Republic of Germany became a full member of the European Union (then European Community), NATO and one of the United States' closest partners in Europe during the 1990s; however, significant disagreements emerged in the 2000s over the Iraq War, when Germany under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder strongly opposed the U invasion. However, relations have faced recurring friction, particularly since the late 2010s, with tensions escalating during Donald Trump's second term; as of 2025–2026 under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, only about 27% of Germans view the relationship positively. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Germany has sharply increased military aid to Ukraine, boosted defense spending, and reduced its dependence on Russian oil and gas, yet divergences with the U . persist on the scope of support, transatlantic trade disputes, and approaches to global challenges, leading Germany to emphasize greater European strategic autonomy while continuing pragmatic cooperation within NATO.