Posted by 
BERLIN — A clear majority of Germans reckon a second term for Donald Trump as U.S. president would mean big changes for the way America backs Europe — and support more national defense spending.
According to a survey by consultancy PwC published today, 59 percent of respondents expect the U.S. to significantly reduce its aid to Ukraine under a second Trump presidency, with 68 percent backing more defense spending at home.
After years of cutting defense expenditures after the end of the Cold War, Germany is ramping up spending with an increase in the defense budget as well as creating a €100 billion rearmament fund — but it still has a very long way to go to reach the aim of turning the Bundeswehr into a war-capable fighting force.
However, two-thirds believe commitments to expand the military under the Zeitenwende modernization drive announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine haven’t been delivered.
In total, 57 percent of those surveyed back the government’s plan to invest 2 percent or more of GDP in defense to meet the target set by NATO, but they were split over whether to scrap the country’s debt rules to spend more lavishly.
Fifty-eight percent were positive about building out NATO’s eastern flank — including sending a German brigade to Lithuania.
“The population is apparently taking the worsening security situation very seriously,” said Wolfgang Zink, a partner at PwC Germany.
