Trump threatens troop cuts in Germany
President Donald Trump has again threatened that the United States could reduce its military presence in Germany, a key NATO ally and the European Union’s largest economy. Europeans have heard this before.
Trump’s social media post followed comments by Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the US was being “humiliated “by Tehran as it slow-walks its diplomacy over the US-Israel war against Iran.
Trump has mused for years about reducing America’s military presence in Germany, and has recently repeatedly railed against NATO for the its refusal to assist the US in its two-month — old war.
US allies at NATO have been waiting for the Trump administration to pull troops out since just after it came to office, warning that Europe would have to look after its own security, and that of Ukraine, in future.
Depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations, around 80,000-100,000 US personnel are usually stationed in Europe. NATO allies have expected that US troops deployed after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in 2022 would be first to leave.
Germany hosts several US military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical centre in Landstuhl, where casualties from US wars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq are treated. US nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.
Ed Arnold, an expert in European security at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the US gets a lot out of its presence in Germany - like logistics and support for Middle East combat operations — and was unlikely to withdraw.
