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The president Donald Trump announced this Wednesday that the United States is evaluating a possible reduction of its military presence in Germany, with a decision to be made "in the coming days." The president communicated this through his social media Truth Social in a direct message: "The United States is studying and analyzing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made in the near future."
The announcement comes days after a sharp dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who declared last Monday that Washington was being "humiliated" by Iranian leaders in diplomatic negotiations and that the U.S. had entered the conflict with Iran "without a clear strategy or exit plan," comparing the situation to the failures in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Trump responded harshly to those criticisms, also on Truth Social: "The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He doesn't know what he's talking about! If Iran had a nuclear weapon, the whole world would be in their hands."
The leader went further and added, "No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and in other areas."
The threat carries significant geopolitical weight: Germany is the European country with the largest U.S. military presence, with between 40,000 and 50,000 soldiers deployed in strategic bases such as Ramstein —the NATO command and logistics center— and Stuttgart, home to the U.S. Command in Europe and Africa.
What makes Trump's shift even more striking is that just in March 2026, Merz himself publicly stated that the president assured him that Washington wished to maintain its military presence on German soil.
This is not the first time Trump has turned to this threat. During his first term, in June 2020, he ordered the withdrawal of between 9,500 and 12,000 soldiers from the approximately 34,500 then deployed, as pressure for Germany's low defense spending — only 1.38% of GDP compared to NATO's target of 2%. The process was never completed, and President Joe Biden formally reversed the order in 2021.
The new threat is part of a pattern of escalating tensions between Trump and his European allies since the beginning of his second term. In April 2026, Trump even suggested the possible withdrawal of the U.S. from NATO during a meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington.
The underlying trigger is the refusal of Germany, Spain, France, and Italy to support the military operations of the U.S. and Israel against Iran, which created a deep rift in the Atlantic alliance. Trump labeled the member countries that did not commit naval forces in that conflict as "cowards."
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already announced in March a reexamination of the U.S. relationship with NATO, and tensions between Washington and its European partners have continued to escalate since then. Germany, for its part, defended Spain against possible sanctions from the Pentagon due to its stance on the conflict with Iran.
According to reports from April 2026, the White House is considering relocating the troops withdrawn from Germany to Eastern European allies such as Poland, Romania, Lithuania, and Greece, countries that have maintained a stance more aligned with Washington. The U.S. had already sent 7,000 additional soldiers to Germany in February 2022 to strengthen NATO's eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, further raising the strategic implications of any withdrawal.
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