Trump Weighs Reducing US Troop Presence in Germany

President Donald Trump has revived pressure on Germany and its NATO partners, saying his administration is weighing a cut to the US military presence in Germany after accusing allies of failing to do more, including in efforts to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.

Earlier this month, a senior White House official told Reuters that Mr Trump had discussed the prospect of pulling some US troops out of Europe.

As of December 2025, the US had just over 68,000 active-duty military personnel permanently assigned to overseas bases across Europe, according to data from the US Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC).

Trump and Marz spar over Iran War

The latest warning follows several days of sharp exchanges between Mr Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war ‌in Iran.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump said Mr Merz did not know what he was talking about after the German leader said Iran was humiliating the US in talks aimed at ending the two-month-old war.

Even so, Mr Merz said yesterday that ties with Mr Trump remained good despite the public clash over the conflict.

Mr Trump’s post appeared just hours after Germany’s top general, Carsten Breuer, met Defence Undersecretary Elbridge Colby and other US defence officials to discuss Berlin’s first military strategy outside the NATO umbrella since World War Two.

After the strategy was released last week, Mr Colby praised the document in a series of posts on X, saying it set out Berlin’s ambition to build Europe’s largest conventional force and offered “a clear path forward.”

“President Trump has rightly laid out that Europe must step up, and NATO must no longer be a paper tiger,” Mr Colby said on X.

“Germany is now taking the leading role in this. After years of disarmament, Berlin is stepping up.”

Germany’s top general, Carsten Breuer was in Washington to brief US officials on Germany’s rearmament plans

Speaking to reporters in Washington, General Breuer said Colby had shown “great appreciation” for Germany’s military strategy, its drive to assume more leadership within NATO and the financial commitment behind that effort.

General Breuer gave no sign that US officials had raised the possibility of cutting American troop numbers in Germany.

The German embassy did not immediately comment. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which also had no immediate comment.

Mr Trump has for years faulted Germany and other European governments for not spending more on their own defence, though he welcomed NATO members’ decision to lift defence spending to 5% of GDP.

Strains deepened again after NATO allies declined to back the war against Iran that Mr Trump launched with Israel without consulting or informing them.

Mr Trump’s push to acquire Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, an idea Copenhagen has firmly rejected, has also added to political tensions.

Jeff Rathke, a former US diplomat and president of the American-German Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said Mr Trump had pursued a major reduction of US troop levels in Germany during his first term, though that effort never materialized.

Mr Rathke said the US military drew major advantages from maintaining a forward presence at overseas bases, including Ramstein in Germany.

“US forces in Europe are not a charitable contribution to ungrateful Europeans – they are an instrument of America’s global military reach,” he said.

US and German military officials say their working relationship remains solid despite Mr Trump’s intermittent social media threats about leaving NATO or reducing troop deployments.