Donald Trump escalated plans to shrink the American military footprint in Europe on Saturday, vowing to pull far more soldiers from Germany than the 5,000 announced just days earlier. The threat to go beyond the initial reduction has rattled Republican leaders in Congress and European partners who are scrambling to understand the scope of the withdrawals.
"We are going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000," Trump told reporters. The statement came after his administration had just completed the first phase of reductions, leaving roughly 30,000 US troops still stationed in Germany.
The initial pullout of 5,000 personnel was triggered by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's blunt assessment of American diplomacy in the Middle East. Speaking to students in Marsberg last month, Merz said the US was being "humiliated" by Iran in negotiations. "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards," he said, arguing the situation needed to end quickly.
The Pentagon formally announced the first round of withdrawals on Friday, framing it as part of a strategic review of military positioning in Europe. A Defense Department spokesman said the decision reflected "theater requirements and conditions on the ground."
But Trump's Saturday pledge to cut deeper has triggered alarm among senior Republicans who oversee military affairs. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, who chair their respective chambers' armed services committees, released a joint statement declaring themselves "very concerned" about further reductions in Germany.
The two lawmakers acknowledged that Germany has stepped up its defense spending in response to Trump's earlier calls for burden-sharing. They noted that Berlin has granted the US seamless access to bases and airspace to support operations against Iran, referred to internally as Operation Epic Fury.
Rather than pulling troops out of Europe altogether, Wicker and Rogers suggested relocating the 5,000 soldiers eastward, toward NATO allies in Eastern Europe. Those countries have invested heavily in US military infrastructure and rely on American presence as a deterrent against conflict on NATO's eastern flank. "It is in the US interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe by moving these 5,000 US forces to the east," the two Republicans wrote, arguing the move would strengthen NATO's front line while reducing costs to American taxpayers.
The lawmakers also insisted that any troop reductions should be coordinated with Congress and American allies rather than announced unilaterally.
Merz's comments have exposed broader tensions between Washington and Europe over strategy in the Middle East and other conflicts. Those strains widened when Reuters reported that a Pentagon email suggested punishing Spain for its vocal opposition to the Iran campaign by suspending the country from NATO membership.
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's threat to slash forces in Germany deeper than already announced reveals a fundamental disconnect with his own party's defense hawks, who worry about abandoning Europe at precisely the wrong moment."
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