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President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0said on Saturday that the U.S. will significantly reduce its troop presence in Germany, escalating a dispute with Chancellor Friedrich Merz as he seeks to scale back\u00a0America\u2019s commitment to European security.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon on Friday had initially announced it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but when asked Saturday about the reason for the move, Trump didn\u2019t offer an explanation and said an even bigger reduction was coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to cut way down. And we\u2019re cutting a lot further than 5,000,\u201d Trump told reporters in Florida.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Saturday, Germany\u2019s defense minister appeared to take in stride the news that 5,000 U.S. troops would be leaving his country.<\/p>\n
Boris 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 defense. But he also emphasized that security cooperation benefited both sides of the trans-Atlantic partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the U.S.,\u201d Pistorius told the German news agency dpa.<\/p>\n
The planned withdrawal faced bipartisan resistance in Washington, with swift criticism from Democrats and concern from Republicans that it would send the \u201cwrong signal\u201d to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose full-scale invasion of Ukraine recently entered its fifth year.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s 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,\u00a0Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u00a0and\u00a0British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n
Merz last week criticized the war in Iran, saying the U.S. is being \u201chumiliated\u201d by the Iranian leadership and calling out Washington\u2019s lack of strategy.<\/p>\n
In another sign of friction, Trump accused the European Union of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to\u00a0increase tariffs\u00a0next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.<\/p>\n
At least one EU lawmaker\u00a0called the tariff hike \u201cunacceptable\u201d and accused Trump of breaking yet another U.S. commitment on trade.<\/p>\n
A pullout of 5,000 soldiers from Germany would amount to about one-seventh of the 36,000 American service members stationed in the country. The Pentagon offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected. The Pentagon on Saturday did not immediately respond to a message seeking details on the further reductions.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal of the 5,000 troops is scheduled to take place over the next six to 12 months, according to the Pentagon. Trump previously said he would pull 9,500 troops from Germany during his first term, but he didn\u2019t start the process and Democratic President Joe Biden\u00a0formally stopped the planned withdrawal\u00a0soon after taking office in 2021.<\/p>\n
More broadly, around 80,000-100,000 U.S. personnel are\u00a0usually stationed in Europe\u00a0\u2014 depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations. The U.S. increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. NATO allies like Germany have expected for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave.<\/p>\n
Pistorius, in his comments to dpa, said, \u201cWe Europeans must take on more responsibility for our security,\u201d while stressing recent efforts by Germany to boost its armed forces, accelerate procurement and develop infrastructure.<\/p>\n
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart, in a post Saturday on X, said the trans-Atlantic alliance was \u201cworking with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defense and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security,\u201d she added, noting \u201cprogress\u201d toward a target among NATO allies to each invest 5% of their economic output to defense.<\/p>\n
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the \u201cdecision follows a thorough review of the Department\u2019s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the branches of the U.S. military didn\u2019t have prior knowledge of the decision to draw down the 5,000 troops and learned about it \u201cin real time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, the Defense Department reiterated that it conducted a thorough review of its force posture in Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to withdraw troops in Germany follows a comprehensive, multilayered process that incorporates perspectives from key leaders in EUCOM and across the chain of command,\u201d acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez wrote in an email, using the abbreviation for U.S. European Command.<\/p>\n
Most U.S. troops in Germany come from the Army and Air Force.<\/p>\n
Germany hosts several American military facilities, including the headquarters of the U.S. European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. U.S. nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.<\/p>\n
Withdrawal of 5,000 troops \u2014 the size of a brigade combat team \u2014 from Germany would likely have limited impact on combat power, but \u201cin terms of messaging of U.S. commitment though, it\u2019s very different,\u201d another U.S. defense official said.<\/p>\n
The only permanent brigade combat team in Germany is the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, alongside an aviation brigade and other assets, which is considered to have an important role in America\u2019s \u2014 and NATO\u2019s \u2014 ability to deter threats.<\/p>\n
After swift pushback from Democrats on Friday, Republican leaders of both armed services committees in Congress said Saturday they were \u201cvery concerned\u201d about the troop withdrawal.<\/p>\n
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama said the decision risked \u201cundermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also said the Pentagon had decided to cancel the planned deployment of the Army\u2019s Long-Range Fires Battalion. Parnell\u2019s statement made no mention of that.<\/p>\n
Wicker and Rogers said any significant change to the U.S. force posture in Europe warrants review and coordination with Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect the Department to engage with its oversight committees in the days and weeks ahead on this decision and its implications for U.S. deterrence and trans-Atlantic security,\u201d they said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n
They also noted that Germany has heeded Trump\u2019s call to shoulder more of the burden of defense spending in Europe, while giving U.S. forces access to its bases and airspace in the war against Iran.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Trump #vows #reduce #U.S #troops #Germany #lot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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