Germany Calls 5,000 Troop Withdrawal Foreseeable as Europe Seeks Answers
Germany said the US decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from europe was foreseeable, even as Nato asked Washington for details. Boris Pistorius said the presence of American soldiers in Europe, particularly in Germany, is in the interest of both countries.
The move affects a US deployment in Germany that is more than 36,000 active duty troops. It also comes as Donald Trump said on Saturday night that the United States was going to cut way down and was cutting a lot further than 5,000.
Pistorius and Nato Seek Details
Pistorius said the withdrawal was “foreseeable” in remarks to DPA and said Germany would now work more closely with allies on the continent. He also said Germany is on the right track and has significantly boosted its military spending in recent years, after Trump had previously accused Germany of being delinquent on Nato’s 2% of GDP target.
Allison Hart, the Nato spokeswoman, said the alliance was “working with the US to understand the details of their decision.” That leaves the immediate operational question in Brussels and Washington rather than in Berlin: how large the reduction will be, and whether the Pentagon’s review will produce a wider shift in force posture.
Trump Signals Wider Cuts
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon spokesperson, said on Friday that the move followed a thorough review and recognised “theater requirements and conditions on the ground.” Trump then widened the issue on Saturday night by saying the cuts would go beyond the 5,000 troops already in view.
That follows a broader pattern. Last year, Washington reduced its troop presence in Romania as part of Trump’s plan to shift US military commitment from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region. Trump has also suggested pulling US troops from Italy and Spain, while the US military deployment in Italy is about 12,000 troops and in the UK about 10,000.
Wicker, Rogers and Tusk
In Washington, Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers said they were “very concerned by the decision to withdraw a US brigade from Germany” and argued that “it is in the US interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe.” Their warning landed alongside a broader political message from Europe, where Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said “The greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance.”
Tusk added that “We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.” Germany’s response now sits between those two pressure points: a US president signaling deeper cuts, and Nato and European officials pressing for the details that will determine whether the move stays limited to Germany or becomes part of a wider withdrawal from Europe.
