USA announces withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers from Germany

This decision follows a thorough review of the US troop presence in Europe. It takes into account the requirements of the operational areas and the conditions on the ground, it said.

Trump had recently already announced that he would consider taking such a step. He had previously voiced clear criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his critical comments on the US offensive against Iran.

Currently almost 40,000 US soldiers in Germany

There have been dozens of large US military bases in Europe for decades. They are of enormous importance in the global operations of the Americans - for example in the Middle East: troops, weapons, ships and aircraft are stationed here, drones are controlled and injured people are cared for. In Germany, these include the US High Command for Europe (EUCOM) in Stuttgart and the US Air Force hub at Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate. The USA also maintains other important bases in Italy and the UK.

According to the US military, around 86,000 soldiers are currently stationed in Europe as of mid-April - around 39,000 of them in Germany. The number changes regularly, partly due to rotations and exercises.

Trump already wanted to withdraw troops once

The US Congress passed a security mechanism at the end of last year: The total number of forces permanently in the European Command's area of responsibility must not be below 76,000 for more than 45 days. After this, certain reporting channels would have to be followed in order to initiate a reduction.

Trump had already threatened to reduce the troop contingent in Germany during his first term of office (2017 to 2021). A few months before leaving the White House, he announced that he wanted to withdraw 12,000 of the 35,000 US soldiers from Germany. Several thousand of these were to be relocated within Europe, while others were to return to the USA. At the time, Trump described the plan as a punitive action for what he saw as a lack of German military spending. His successor Joe Biden then halted the plans after taking office.

In Trump's second term, there were initially other signals

In his second term in office, Trump had initially given Germany hope that the US soldiers stationed there would remain at their current troop levels. During a visit by Merz to Washington last summer, he told a reporter that if Germany wanted the American soldiers there, he was prepared to do so. "Yes, we will do that. That's not a problem."

As recently as March, Trump had assured the Chancellor during another visit to Washington that the US wanted to maintain its troop presence in Germany. "That's good news, but I didn't expect anything else," said the CDU chairman after a meeting with Trump.