Germany to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP in 2029

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's finance minister on Tuesday vowed to lift the country's defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product in 2029 as he presented the new government's spending plans.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt even before it took office last month. It acted ahead of the NATO summit starting Tuesday that aims to raise allies' defense spending target from 2% of GDP to 3.5%, plus another 1.5% for potentially defense-related infrastructure.

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said Germany's defense spending will hit 2.4% of GDP this year, and “we will raise defense spending step by step so that we will reach a NATO quota of 3.5% in 2029.”

Klingbeil, who is also the vice chancellor, said he will “be very vigilant that the money is spent efficiently,” for example by aiming for greater cooperation at European level on procurement, research and development.

Germany for years drew criticism for failing to hit the existing 2% spending target. But, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase defense spending to 2%. He also announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($115-billion) special modernization fund.

Germany met the 2% target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027.

Merz has said that “the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.”

More broadly, the government's plans call for overall government spending to increase from 503 billion euros this year to 573.8 billion euros in 2029. The new government is also setting up a 500 billion-euro fund to upgrade Germany’s infrastructure over the next 12 years.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, late Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil leads the cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The Washington Commanders are bringing aboard D.J. Williams, whose father is Super Bowl-winning quarterback Doug Williams, as their new QBs coach, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the hiring of the younger Williams, who was the quarterbacks coach this past season for the Atlanta Falcons.

The move was first reported by ESPN.

D.J. Williams was an offensive assistant and assistant QBs coach for Atlanta in 2024.

Before that, he spent five seasons with the New Orleans Saints as an offensive assistant.

He played quarterback in college at Grambling State, the same school where his father was a QB before being a first-round NFL draft pick. The older Williams went on to play for the Washington franchise and was the Super Bowl MVP when the club defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10 after the 1987 season.

Doug Williams is now an executive with the Commanders.

D.J. Williams replaces Tavita Pritchard, who was Washington's quarterbacks coach during Jayden Daniels' AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2024 and left the Commanders during this past season after being hired by Stanford as its head coach.

David Blough, who was the assistant QBs coach under Pritchard and helped fill in after he moved on, was promoted last week to offensive coordinator. The previous OC, Kliff Kingsbury, agreed with head coach Dan Quinn two days after Washington's 5-12 season ended that it was time to part ways.

Quinn still also needs to find a new assistant QBs coach, offensive line coach and defensive coordinator. The former DC, Joe Whitt Jr., was fired after the season.

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FILE - Atlanta Falcons offensive assistant quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams warms up players before coaching against the Las Vegas Raiders in an NFL football game, Dec. 16, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis, File)