US President Donald Trump is leaving his German allies in the dark about the actual extent of the planned troop withdrawal. After the Defense Department announced on Friday that it would withdraw 5,000 US soldiers from Germany in the next six to twelve months, Trump followed up: “We will reduce significantly, by far more than 5,000 (soldiers),” he said at the airport in Palm Beach in the US state of Florida in response to a reporter’s question.
According to information from the US military in mid-April, around 39,000 soldiers are currently stationed in Germany. The number changes regularly, also due to rotations and exercises. The US Department of Defense made it clear that the decision followed a review of the troop presence in Europe. There is still no official information about which locations are affected and which units are involved.
Trump recently announced that he would consider such a step. He had previously criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) after he made critical comments about the US war against Iran.
Dozens of US military bases in Europe
There have been dozens of large US military bases in Europe for decades. They are of great importance in American missions in the Middle East, for example. In Germany, for example, these include the US High Command for Europe in Stuttgart and, as a US Air Force hub, Ramstein Airfield in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Pistorius tried to de-escalate
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) highlighted the common interests. “The presence of American soldiers in Europe and especially in Germany is in our interest and in the interest of the USA,” he told the German Press Agency in Berlin on Saturday. At the same time, he made it clear that the decision was not unexpected.
NATO tried to gain more clarity. “We are working with the USA to find out the details of their decision on troop presence in Germany,” said a spokeswoman on the X platform.
Criticism from Trump’s Republicans
Influential Republicans reacted with skepticism to the US government’s plans. “We are very concerned about the decision to withdraw a US brigade from Germany,” said Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers. Rogers chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, Wicker chairs the Senate Committee.
Germany responded to Trump’s demands and significantly increased its defense spending. A premature reduction runs the risk of weakening deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. In addition, Germany was very cooperative in the Iran war, for example with regard to overflight rights, the statement said.
The two members of Congress also say that the Pentagon will not send a battalion to Germany to use long-range weapons. The US government has not yet commented publicly on this. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden promised at the 2024 NATO summit to station medium-range weapons with conventional warheads in Germany. If this plan were actually canceled, it would be more serious than the announced withdrawal of partial troops. The federal government had fully expected to station medium-range missiles as a deterrent against Russia.
“No need to panic, but another wake-up call”
In Germany, reactions to the US announcement were mixed. In Rhineland-Palatinate, concern dominated. “It’s not just about cooperation in security policy issues,” said Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer (SPD). “It is also an economic policy question that the stationing forces are here.”
The chairman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Thomas Röwekamp (CDU), told the “Rheinische Post” that a possible troop withdrawal of this magnitude was “no reason to panic, but another wake-up call.”
SPD parliamentary group deputy Siemtje Möller told “Welt am Sonntag” that the announcement of the partial withdrawal was “strategyless” because the USA benefited significantly from the troop presence in Germany. Green Party leader Franziska Brantner told the news portal “t-online” that the announcement showed “how dangerous it is to rely on Trump on defense issues.”
Left-wing parliamentary group leader Sören Pellmann told “Welt am Sonntag”: “Military operations are being carried out from German soil that are incompatible with the peace requirement of the Basic Law. Every soldier who leaves Germany is therefore a step in the right direction.” AfD defense politician Jan Nolte spoke of a more symbolic step “that does not change NATO’s deterrence capability in Europe.”
Punishment action for Merz?
Merz and Trump maintained a fairly good relationship for months. However, with regard to the Iran war, the Chancellor became increasingly critical in public. During a recent discussion with students, he said that the United States could not end the war quickly “because the Iranians are obviously stronger than expected and the Americans obviously don’t have a really convincing strategy in the negotiations.” Trump then personally attacked Merz: “He has no idea what he’s talking about!” he wrote on Truth Social.
