{"id":153978,"date":"2026-07-03T13:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T13:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=153978"},"modified":"2026-07-03T13:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T13:43:12","slug":"merz-hits-back-at-trump-for-ridiculing-germanys-defence-spending-driveunited-states-canada-south-china-morning-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=153978","title":{"rendered":"Merz hits back at Trump for ridiculing Germany\u2019s defence spending driveUnited States &amp; Canada &#8211; South China Morning Post"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: United States &amp; Canada &#8211; South China Morning PostGermany \u2060does not have to shy \u2060away from talking up its record on defence spending, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, when asked about US President Donald Trump calling Germany\u2019s past efforts \u201cridiculous\u201d.<br \/>\nThe issue of defence spending has loomed large as Nato leaders prepare to gather \u200cnext week in Ankara, where Europeans aim to set aside strife with Trump over Iran and Greenland and show they are stepping up to defend the continent.<br \/>\n\u201cGermany is doubling its defence budget within four&#8230;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/world\/europe\/article\/3359369\/merz-hits-back-trump-ridiculing-germanys-defence-spending-drive?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: United States &amp; Canada &#8211; South China Morning PostGermany \u2060does not have to shy \u2060away from talking up its record on defence spending, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153978"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=153978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153978\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=153978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=153978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}