German officials angered by Vice President Trump's controversial remarks

In this speech, US Vice President Donald Trump's "JD Vance" claimed that European security and democratic values are not threatened by China or Russia, but rather by internal European threats.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was incensed by Vance's comments.

According to the British newspaper Financial Times, German officials, who also hosted the conference, were most perplexed and incensed by the American politician's comments.

Christian Democratic Party (CSU) leader Friedrich Mertz, who is running for the country's chance to become chancellor, added that the US government should not be telling us Germans how to defend our democratic institutions.

European officials had gathered at the annual Munich Security Conference to discuss issues including how to end the war in Ukraine and strengthen the transatlantic alliance, but instead, US President Donald Trump’s representative at the meeting accused them of suppressing free speech and failing to control irregular migration.

Vance’s controversial remarks came as Trump recently announced that he had spoken to Putin in a phone call regarding the war in Ukraine.

After the call, he said that he would soon begin direct negotiations with Putin to end the war in Ukraine (without the presence of European countries).

Ukrainian officials also learned before the conference that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had emphasized Ukraine’s return to its 2014 borders at a meeting in Brussels, effectively ruling out the possibility of Kiev joining NATO.