The U.S. plans to withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, an unnamed senior Pentagon official told Reuters on May 1, in retaliation for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz having said that the White House is being “humiliated” amid its ongoing war against Iran. The official said that recent German rhetoric had been “inappropriate and unhelpful.”
“The President is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks,” the official said.
The Pentagon said the withdrawal was expected to be completed over the next 6 to 12 months. Germany is home to almost 40,000 active-duty U.S. military personnel, more than anywhere else in Europe. The official said the drawdown would bring U.S. troop levels in Europe back to roughly pre-2022 levels, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a buildup by then-President Joe Biden.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the partial withdrawal was expected, according to a later Reuters report. “We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,” Pistorius said, adding, “Germany is on the right track” by expanding its armed forces, speeding up military procurement, and building infrastructure.
Back in Washington, the Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Mike Rogers and Roger Wicker, said in a joint statement that rather than simply pulling troops out of Germany, they should be repositioned eastwards, closer to Russia. “Allies there have made substantial investments to host U.S. troops, reducing costs for the U.S. taxpayer while strengthening NATO’s front line to help deter a far more costly conflict from ever beginning,” they said.
What troops will be withdrawn hasn’t yet been clarified, but according to Reuters, the Pentagon decision means one full brigade will leave Germany and a long-range fires battalion—to be equipped with intermediate-range missiles—that was due to be deployed later this year will be cancelled.
