US to pull out 5,000 troops from Germany
WASHINGTON—The United States will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said Friday, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s threat as he clashes with the German leader over the US war with Iran.
Earlier this week, Trump had threatened to withdraw US troops after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the United States was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war.
The number of troops leaving Germany would be 14 percent of the 36,000 American service members stationed there.
In a statement, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
‘President’s mood’
Germany hosts several US military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base, and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. US nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.
News of the troop withdrawal drew swift pushback from Democrats in Congress and a hawkish Washington think tank. They said the move will benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin and weaken US security interests.
The withdrawal “suggests American commitments to our allies are dependent on the president’s mood,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“The president should immediately cease this reckless action before he causes irreversible consequences for our alliances and long-term national security,” Reed said.
Bradley Bowman, a scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the US military’s presence in Germany and elsewhere in Europe “not only strengthens deterrence against additional Kremlin aggression but also facilitates the projection of American military power into the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Africa.”
US personnel in Europe
Trump on Friday ignored questions from reporters about the withdrawal as he boarded Air Force One in Ocala, Florida, following a rally to tout his economic agenda.
He made a similar threat in his first term, saying he would pull out about 9,500 of the roughly 34,500 US troops then stationed in Germany. But he didn’t start the process and Democratic President Joe Biden formally stopped the planned withdrawal soon after taking office in 2021.
Trump has mused for years about reducing American military presence in Germany, and has railed against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) for its refusal to assist Washington in the Iran war.
After posting on social media on Wednesday that the US was reviewing troop reductions in Germany, Trump was still thinking about Merz on Thursday, posting that the German leader should “spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken Country” than concerning himself with Iran.
Nato has braced for a US troop withdrawal since Trump took office, warning that Europe would have to look after its own security, including that of Ukraine.
Depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations, around 80,000 t0 100,000 US personnel are usually stationed in Europe.
