Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany, stated that the armed forces of Germany will join French nuclear exercises for the first time in history towards the latter part of the year in accordance with the new shared deterrence policy. Though earlier German leadership did not want to cooperate in nuclear affairs with France, the present leadership led by Chancellor Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that this is because of the necessity of increased European defense independence due to the uncertain stance of the US regarding its security commitments under President Donald Trump. Chancellor Merz explained that the alliance between them does not mean the replacement of Germany's commitment to the nuclear umbrella of NATO.