US President Donald Trump's announcement that he is considering withdrawing some US troops from Germany has stunned Pentagon officials. Politico reported this on April 30, citing sources in the country's Ministry of Defense.
Between 35 thousand and 40 thousand American troops are stationed in Germany.
On April 29, Trump wrote in Truth Social that Washington was allowing a reduction in military presence in Germany amid a lack of US support in the war against Iran.
Trump's post was for many the first word of a likely new move to withdraw hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. troops from Germany, media sources said. That stands in stark contrast to the Pentagon's recently completed months-long review of the global troop presence, which did not call for significant troop reductions in Europe.
As a congressional aide said in a media commentary, the Pentagon did not expect this and did not plan any reduction. “But we have to take this seriously because he was serious about this during his first term,” he added, referring to Trump's July 2020 order to withdraw 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany, which was never carried out.
Although Trump's previous threats failed to materialize, he has stepped up his anti-European rhetoric during his second term, from threatening to leave NATO over allies' refusal to join the war with Iran to warnings that he could seize Greenland, Politico recalls.
The media interlocutor said that German officials reacted with surprise to Trump’s posts.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department is planning for “every scenario” and is fully prepared to carry out Trump's orders “at a time and place of his choosing.”
The withdrawal of American troops could deprive Europe of an important military deterrent against Russia, the publication writes.
It is also believed that a review of the number of US troops in Germany could further inflame tensions in the alliance after several NATO members denied the Pentagon access to their bases for the war with Iran.
“Trump’s policy of crude threats has reached its limit,” a German official said.
