The Pentagon plans to withdraw up to 5,000 US troops from Germany, senior defense officials said on Friday.
These officials expressed this action as a sign of President Trump's dissatisfaction with the level of assistance given to European allies in the US-Iran war. Mr. Trump has publicly criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the leaders of other NATO member states for not directly joining the US military campaign against Iran.
The US military has had a large presence in Germany since the aftermath of World War II and the Cold War. More than 36,000 soldiers are operating at bases across Germany as of last December, along with nearly 1,500 soldiers and 11,500 civilians, according to Defense Ministry figures.
Japan is the only foreign country with a large US military population.
Germany is also home to the headquarters of the US European Command and Africa Command, and its Ramstein Air Base is an important base for US operations.
Some US forces removed from Europe may return to the US and be sent abroad, defense officials said, describing it as an effort to focus on the Pentagon's priorities in the US and the Indo-Pacific region.
The withdrawal will not affect the transport of wounded soldiers to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, officials said. Landstuhl is America's largest hospital abroad, and we did he took care of the US forces ordered by Iran's strikes.
Defense officials said the withdrawal would affect only one German military unit, after the number of units in Europe increased following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The fire brigade that was to be sent to Germany later this year will also be given a job.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the withdrawal will be done in the next six to 12 months.
“This decision follows a careful analysis of the situation of the Department's troops in Europe and is consistent with the needs of the theater and the existing conditions,” Parnell said in a statement.
Mr. Trump indicated earlier this week that he is considering reducing the number of troops in Germany. He has grown increasingly frustrated with Merz in recent days, after the German chancellor said this week that “the Americans clearly do not have a strategy” for Iran and said the US was being “humiliated” by Iran's negotiators.
The US president later wrote in several Truth Social publications that Merz “doesn't know what he's talking about” and was “disturbing those who end the Iran Nuclear threat.” Merz said on Wednesday that he still gets along with Mr Trump.
The back and forth revealed a disagreement between Mr. Trump, along with many NATO allies, have avoided directly joining the US war with Iran and faced higher energy prices due to fuel supply disruptions. The president has threatened to leave NATO, denouncing the alliance as a “paper tiger” as a result entering the war. Act of 2023 prevents the president in withdrawing the US from NATO without approval from Congress.
Mr. Trump has been critical of NATO for years, accusing alliance members of not spending enough on their forces and relying too heavily on the United States. In recent years, he has also suggested that European countries should take more responsibility to help Ukraine as it faces the Russian invasion that passed the four-year mark in February.
The President floated the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Germany near the end of his first term, a move that was reversed by former President Joe Biden.
