BERLIN

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that the US administration's latest security strategy is set to change transatlantic relations, while expressing hope that Washington will remain a partner.

“We are preparing ourselves for a change in transatlantic relations,” Merz told a press conference in Berlin. “But I would still like to see it as a partner, and I hope that the US sees it the same way with regard to Europe and also with regard to Germany.”

The conservative leader expressed regret over the US criticisms and accusations directed at European governments in the strategy document, but also noted that it did not come as "a big surprise" as it echoed what US Vice President JD Vance told Europeans at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year.

Asked about US President Donald Trump's harsh criticism of European governments on their pro-immigration policies, Merz said he and Trump have discussed this topic on several occasions since their first meeting in June.

"I told the American president that we in Germany are pursuing a new policy on immigration and asylum law. I will tell him at the next opportunity, when we meet, that we are having great success with it," Merz said.

"We have been able to roughly halve the number of asylum seekers in Germany, and I assume he will acknowledge that we have made a course correction in this area, which has indeed been a significant burden for us in Germany."

The new US national security strategy document, released last week, outlined the Trump administration's priorities in foreign and security policy. It focused on the Indo-Pacific region while rejecting European governments' characterization of Russia as an "existential threat.”

The 33-page document also included contentious observations about Europe, warning of the continent's economic decline and the "real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure" within the next 20 years. It also criticized the stance taken by European governments against EU-skeptical, far-right, and anti-immigration movements.

In a sharp break from previous strategy documents, it argued: "The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.”