Trump's 'irresponsible war' to blame for economic slowdown, German minister says

Germany's coalition government has been struggling to boost the economy which has been stagnant for years, with high energy costs and a weak demand for exports playing a significant role.Last month, Merz told students that "the Americans clearly have no strategy" and he could not see "what strategic exit" they were going to choose."The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result," he said.The "entire nation" was being "humiliated" by the Iranian leadership, he added.Trump responded the following day with a post to Truth Social, where he said Merz thought it was "OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon" and "doesn't know what he's talking about.""No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!" the post read.Dragging the row on, Trump later suggested Merz should focus more on "fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat".Earlier this month and just days after Merz's initial comments, the US defence department announced a plan to withdraw 5,000 troops form Germany - an order which has been attributed to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.