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What to know about the US military presence in Europe as Trump seeks drawdown of thousands of troops
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German Chancellor Merz calls state election a 'disaster' for his party but vows to stay on
S. Troop Withdrawal WSJ
Washington has scolded Merz over his criticisms of Trump’s actions in Iran.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has tried to downplay tensions with the United States after Washington announced plans to reduce the number of American troops in Germany.Merz said US plans to withdraw troops have “no connection” to the rift with Donald Trump over his strategy in Iran.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump announces 25 percent tariffs on European Union cars, truckslist 2 of 3NATO assessing details of US troop withdrawal from Germanylist 3 of 3US to cut troops in Germany as Iran war spat deepensend of list“I remain convinced that the Americans are the most important partner for us in the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO),” Merz told broadcaster ARD in an interview set to be aired later on Sunday.Trouble started last Monday when Merz appeared to criticise Trump’s actions in Iran, where the US and Israel started a war without consulting Washington’s NATO allies.Iran was “humiliating” the US, Merz said, warning that Washington did not have a clear path out of the conflict. Foreign Affairs Minister Johann Wadephul later tried to walk back the comments, saying that Merz was referring to Iran’s “bad behaviour” in peace talks.That did not appear to remove the sting for Washington. Trump scolded Merz over the remarks, saying the German leader “doesn’t know what he is talking about” and threatening to withdraw American soldiers.On Friday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal of around 5,000 American soldiers over the next 12 months.That’s expected to cut the number of US troops in the country by about 14 percent. Germany hosts the highest number of US troops in Europe -about 36,000 soldiers. Italy hosts about 12,000, with 10,000 in the UK.Trump also announced on Friday increased tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union, of which Germany produces the highest numbers.NATO-US alliance under pressureGermany has been one of the most loyal allies of the US and Israel, with Berlin being one of Israel’s most important weapons suppliers.Merz backed Israel’s attacks on Iran last year, saying that it was “doing the dirty work for all of us”.Germany has also consistently backed Israel’s actions in Gaza, while cracking down on pro-Palestine demonstrators at home through mass arrests, profiling and censorship.With the sting of rising oil and commodity prices, however, Merz appeared to change his views on the US and Israel’s war in Iran.Trump has long criticised Washington’s NATO allies in the EU for overly relying on the US, spurring governments such as Germany to begin boosting defence spending and upgrading weaponry.Washington intensified those criticisms in recent weeks as EU countries refused to directly participate in the war against Iran or help to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz.Spain, in particular, has been publicly vocal in its criticism of the war and closed its airspace to the US military amid the bombing campaign on Iran.On Sunday, Trump shared an article from the far-right news website Breitbart on social media reiterating his earlier comment, titled: “Trump Tells German Chancellor Merz ‘Fix Your Broken Country,’ Mulls Pulling U.S. Troops from Spain and Italy”.About 4,000 US troops are based in Spain.German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday that the US decision to draw down troops in Germany “was foreseeable”.Speaking to the DPA news agency, Pistorius stressed the US-Europe relationship was important but also that “Europeans must assume more responsibility for our security”.NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart posted on X that the alliance is “working with the US to understand the details of their decision”.
16 minutes agoJaroslav LukivEPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockThe US currently has more than 36,000 active duty troops in GermanyGermany's defence minister has said the US decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from his country was "foreseeable", as the Nato military alliance says it is seeking clarification from Washington.Speaking to the DPA news agency, Boris Pistorius also stressed "the presence of American soldiers in Europe, and particularly in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the US".Meanwhile Nato spokeswoman Allison Hart said the alliance was "working with the US to understand the details of their decision".Washington's move comes after President Donald Trump criticised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for saying the US had been "humiliated" by Iranian negotiators in the ongoing war.The US military deployment in Germany - currently at more than 36,000 active duty troops - is by far its biggest in Europe, compared with about 12,000 in Italy and 10,000 in the UK.Asked about the cuts to troops in Germany on Saturday night, Trump said: "We're going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000." He did not provide more details.Trump has also suggested pulling US troops from Italy and Spain.Last year, Washington decided to reduce its troop presence in Romania, as part of Trump's plan to shift the focus of US military commitment from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region.There are now growing concerns within the 32-member Nato alliance that the US latest decision could weaken the organisation. "The greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Saturday. "We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend," he added.And two senior US lawmakers from Trump's Republican party said that they were "very concerned by the decision to withdraw a US brigade from Germany"."Rather than withdrawing forces from the continent altogether, it is in the US interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe," said Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers, who chair the Senate and House armed services committees respectively.In Saturday's interview with DPA, Pistorius also said Europe must take greater responsibility for its security, and that Berlin would now be working more closely with allies on the continent."Germany is on the right track," he said, pointing out that his country has significantly boosted its military spending in recent years.Trump had previously accused Germany of being "delinquent" because its military spending was well below Nato's target of 2% of economic output (GDP).But that has changed radically under the Merz government, with Germany now projected to spend €105.8bn (£91bn) on defence in 2027. Overall, Germany's defence expenditure is set to reach 3.1% of GDP, taking into account other defence funds, including Berlin's continuing aid to Ukraine as its continues to fight against invading Russian troops.In her post on X on Saturday, Nato's Allison Hart said the US decision to pull troops out of Germany "underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security. "We're already seeing progress since allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP at the Nato summit in The Hague last year."ReutersFriedrich Merz (left) and Donald Trump last met face-to-face in March in the White HouseThe latest spat between Trump and Merz was triggered by comments by the German chancellor on Monday.Merz told university students that "the Americans clearly have no strategy"."The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result," he said.He added that the "entire nation" was being "humiliated" by Iran.In response, Trump took to his platform Truth Social, saying Merz thought it was "OK for
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