Pentagon officials have decided to withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a major logistical hub for American troop movements around the world, including the Middle East.
The move comes in response to “theater requirements and conditions on the ground,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement.
But the drawdown announcement lands amid the White House’s growing rift with European allies and Germany in particular. The country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, earlier this week said Iran had “humiliated” the United States over the course of the war. After the remarks, President Donald Trump on April 29 said in a statement that the United States was studying a “reduction of Troops in Germany.”
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” said Parnell, referring to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. “This 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.”
Parnell said the withdrawal will happen over the course of six to 12 months.
Germany has served as a hub for U.S. troop movements around the globe for decades and American soldiers have been stationed in the country dating back to the Allies’ victory over the Nazis in World War II.
The country today has more U.S. troops stationed in it than any other country in Europe with about 35,000 troops deployed there. Only Japan sees more U.S. troops with about 50,000. Italy has the next highest deployment in the region with about 12,000.
Removing 5,000 troops from Germany will make only a small dent in the total number stationed in the country, but it signals Washington’s increasingly acrimonious relationship with allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Trump throughout the Iran war has blasted NATO allies for not coming to the aid of the United States. At one moment, he called them “COWARDS.”
“Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!,” Trump said in a statement March 20, before the ceasefire. “They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran. Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!”
The mutual defense assurances of the NATO agreement covers attacks on member nations, not instances where a member attacks another country. The Article 5 assurances have only ever been invoked and acted upon after 9/11.
A few NATO members have disavowed the U.S. war on Iran and actively moved to remain unaffiliated. Spain early on in the war refused to allow the U.S. military to use its bases for missions linked to the war.
The country’s prime minister has been among the leading critics of the war Trump and ally Israel launched on Feb. 28.
“In a few words, this is an absolute disaster,” Pedro Sanchez, leader of Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party, said in an address before congress in Madrid. “And being silent in the face of an unjust and illegal war is not prudence or loyalty, but cowardice and complicity.”
Contributing by USA TODAY White House correspondent Joey Garrison