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US President Donald Trump said late on Saturday that Washington will significantly reduce its troop presence in Germany, escalating a dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
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The Pentagon announced on Friday that it would cut 5,000 troops from its NATO ally withing the coming six to 12 months, and comes after Merz criticised the US-Israeli war in Iran, saying Washington did not appear to have a viable strategy in place.
Asked on Saturday on the reason behind the reduction in troop presence in the country, Trump declined to offer an explanation, instead noting that an even bigger reduction was imminent, as the Republican president seeks to scale back US commitment to European security.
“We’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” Trump told reporters in Florida.
Earlier on Saturday, Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius appeared to take in stride the news that 5,000 US troops would be leaving his country.
Pistorius said the drawdown, which Trump has threatened for years, was expected, and he said European nations needed to take on more responsibility for their own defence. He however emphasised that security cooperation benefited both sides of the trans-Atlantic partnership.
“The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the US,” Pistorius told German media outlets.
The planned US withdrawal faced bipartisan resistance in Washington, with swift criticism from Democrats and concern from Republicans that it would send the “wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine recently entered its fifth year.
Trump’s decision comes as he seethes at European allies over their unwillingness to join his campaign with Israel against Iran. He has lashed out at leaders like Merz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Merz last week criticised the war in Iran, saying the US is being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and called out Washington’s lack of strategy, clearly defined objectives and exit plans.
In another sign of friction, Trump accused the European Union of not complying with its US trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.
The response from Brussels was swift with the European Parliament’s trade committee chair Bernd Lange calling the move “unacceptable” and accusing Trump of breaking yet another US commitment on trade. He also called Washington an “unreliable” trading partner.
A pullout of 5,000 soldiers from Germany would amount to about one-seventh of the 36,000 US service members stationed in the country. The Pentagon offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected.
Trump had also earlier in the week hinted at a reduction in troop presence in other NATO allies, Italy and Spain, after recent clashes with their leaders, also over the war in Iran. The US maintains over 12,500 troops in Italy and close to 4,000 in Spain.
More broadly, around 80,000-100,000 active-duty US troops are usually stationed in Europe — depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations.
Washington increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Berlin says it has been expecting for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave.
Additional sources • AP
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