ruth901
US President announces decisionOut of anger at Merz! Trump wants to withdraw US soldiers from Germany
Trump is currently not in good terms with Germany.
AP
The US President reacts thinly to Chancellor Merz's statements about the Iran war. He tries to reassure: his relationship with Trump is still good. But now Trump is escalating with a threat.
According to President Donald Trump, the USA is examining a possible troop reduction in Germany. A decision should be made shortly, he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The announcement follows Trump's clear criticism of Chancellor Friedrich Merz because he had made critical comments about the US offensive against Iran. “He has no idea what he’s talking about!” Trump wrote about Merz on Truth Social on Tuesday. It is no wonder “that Germany is doing so badly, both economically and in other respects!” He accused the Chancellor of agreeing that Iran had nuclear weapons.
Trump had already threatened to reduce the troop contingent in Germany during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021. According to information from the US military in mid-April, around 86,000 soldiers are currently stationed in Europe – around 39,000 of them in Germany. The number changes regularly, also due to rotations and exercises.
In March, Trump had promised the Chancellor that the USA wanted to maintain its troop presence in Germany. “This is good news, but I didn’t expect it to be any other way,” said the CDU chairman in Washington after a meeting with Trump.
Given Trump's critical stance towards Europe, there had previously been speculation that the President could also withdraw US soldiers from Germany. Merz did not say whether Trump had promised that the US contingent would remain the same.
Last summer – during Merz's previous visit to Washington – Trump personally gave Germany hope that the US soldiers stationed there would remain at their current troop levels. When asked by a reporter whether he would leave US troops in Germany, he said: “Yes, we will talk about it.” If Germany wants the American soldiers there, he is willing to do so. “Yes, we will do that. It's no problem.”
There have been dozens of large US military bases in Europe for decades, which are of enormous importance in American missions around the world – for example in the Middle East: Troops, weapons, ships and aircraft are stationed here, drones are controlled and injured people are treated. In Germany, these include the US High Command for Europe (EUCOM) in Stuttgart and, as a US Air Force hub, Ramstein Airfield in Rhineland-Palatinate. The USA maintains other important bases in Italy and Great Britain.
The US Congress decided on a security mechanism at the end of 2025: The total number of armed forces permanently within the European Command's area of responsibility may not be less than 76,000 for more than 45 days. After that, certain reporting channels would have to be followed in order to achieve a reduction.
If you take Trump's statements as a benchmark, the personal relationship with Merz seems to have reached a new low. The CDU politician tried to counter this impression on Wednesday. “The personal relationship between the American president and me remains good – at least from my point of view,” he said. “We are still in good discussions with each other.”
The Federal Chancellor and the US President maintained a fairly good relationship with each other for months. Recently, however, Merz adopted a new tone and publicly criticized Washington. He accused the US government of not having an exit strategy for the Iran war. “Because the Iranians are obviously stronger than expected and the Americans obviously don’t have a really convincing strategy in the negotiations,” he said during a discussion with students in Marsberg in the Sauerland.
“The problem with such conflicts is always: You don't just have to get in, you also have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan, for 20 years. We saw that in Iraq,” the Chancellor continued. The Americans “obviously went into this war without any strategy” in Iran. This makes it all the more difficult to end the conflict now. “Especially since the Iranians are obviously negotiating very cleverly – or not negotiating very cleverly,” said Merz. “An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian government.”
Merz is not the first leading politician in Europe whom Trump has massively attacked. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have also fallen out of favor with the Republican. Recently, after the US President's criticism of the Pope, there was even a clash between him and the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who previously had a very good relationship with the White House.
Sources used: ino/dpa
