WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Friday that roughly 5,000 U.S. service members will leave Germany over the next six to 12 months, carrying out a move President Donald Trump has threatened amid disputes with Germany’s leader over the U.S. war with Iran.
Trump had threatened reductions earlier this week after Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Washington’s handling of the conflict and said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the decision “follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
Germany hosts numerous U.S. installations, including the headquarters for U.S. European and Africa Commands, Ramstein Air Base and the Landstuhl medical center where casualties from Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. U.S. nuclear weapons are also stationed in the country. The announced pullback would amount to about 14% of the roughly 36,000 American troops currently stationed in Germany.
Democrats in Congress and hawkish analysts quickly criticized the move, arguing it would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin and undermine U.S. security and alliances. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the withdrawal “suggests American commitments to our allies are dependent on the president’s mood” and urged Trump to stop the action to avoid “irreversible consequences” for alliances and national security.
Bradley Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said the U.S. presence in Germany and elsewhere in Europe “strengthens deterrence against additional Kremlin aggression” and supports projection of American power into the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa.
Trump declined to take questions about the decision Friday as he departed from a rally in Ocala, Florida. He has long considered shrinking the U.S. footprint in Germany and has criticized NATO allies for not supporting Washington in the war that began Feb. 28 with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. He wrote Wednesday that a review of possible troop reductions in Germany was underway and on Thursday suggested that Merz should focus on ending the war with Russia in Ukraine and on domestic issues.
Trump previously threatened a large drawdown during his first term — proposing to pull about 9,500 of roughly 34,500 troops stationed in Germany — but the process did not begin and President Joe Biden halted the planned cuts after taking office in 2021.
NATO allies have long anticipated that some U.S. forces deployed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 would be among the first to be redeployed. Typically, depending on operations, exercises and rotations, between 80,000 and 100,000 U.S. personnel are stationed in Europe. Allies have expressed particular concern about redeployments of systems and ammunition — for example, Patriot batteries moved from Germany to the Middle East — and were unsettled last October when the U.S. reduced forces on NATO’s borders with Ukraine by 1,500-3,000 troops on short notice, affecting bases in Romania.