The Pentagon said Friday that the U.S. will withdraw 5,000 troops from military bases in Germany, following through on a threat President Donald Trump made after sparring with the country’s leader over the Iran war.
It amounts to a relatively minor drawdown of a buildup that began under President Joe Biden in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. There will still be about 33,000 U.S. troops in Germany.
Trump, who has repeatedly complained that NATO countries had failed to assist the attack on Iran, has warned for months that the U.S. would pull forces from Europe.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal after reviewing U.S. troop buildup in Europe and is in response to “heater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” Parnell said. “We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”
Trump first floated withdrawing troops from Germany on Wednesday as an extension of his frustration over NATO and European allies measured support for the war in Iran. That proposal surprised Pentagon officials, who had not heard of a troop pullback floated as a possibility prior to the president’s threat in a social media post.
There are 38,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany, home to U.S. European Command and Africa Command — by far the largest deployment of American forces in Europe.
The Pentagon concluded its review of U.S. military posture around the globe earlier this year. That report did not call for a major withdrawal of troops from Europe, but it did pledge to commit more military assets to the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific and leave European security to European nations.
Earlier this year the Pentagon announced it would not replace an Army brigade that was scheduled to leave Romania, setting off alarm bells within NATO. But the Romania and Germany withdrawals should not have any major effect on European security, especially as most NATO allies are spending more on their own military capabilities and in increasing the size of their armed forces.
Not all Republicans agreed with the Pentagon’s order. Brad Bowman, a former national security adviser to Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Todd Young, said withdrawing troops from Germany would primarily hurt the U.S. and benefit U.S. adversaries like Russia.
“U.S. military posture in Europe, including in Germany, not only strengthens deterrence against additional Kremlin aggression but also facilitates the projection of American military power into the Mediterranean,” Bowman said.
© 2026 Politico
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s order to remove 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany.
“President Trump’s order that the Pentagon begin pulling 5,000 U.S. troops from our warfighting formations in Germany is not grounded in any coherent U.S. national security policy, strategy, or even analysis. It is counter to what is needed and will embolden Russia. Trump has directed this move simply because he got his feelings hurt by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s statements criticizing his war of choice with Iran.
“It doesn’t matter that our presence in Germany is essential to our national security. It doesn’t matter that Germany is an excellent ally and has actually continued providing access to bases that have supported operations in the Middle East despite not being consulted beforehand and despite the lack of a strategy for Trump’s war. It doesn’t matter that withdrawing a brigade combat team from Europe runs counter to the intent of the law that Congress passed overwhelmingly last year. All that matters are the hurt feelings of a president who is seeking political vengeance.
“Cutting troops and harming alliances for personal reasons is dangerous and should be rejected by Congress. If President Trump and Secretary Hegseth won’t reverse this decision, I hope my Republican colleagues will join us in enforcing the law and taking bipartisan actions to support our national security needs and force posture in Europe. “
Every decision the Trump ‘government’ takes is somehow in favor of Russia……………….strange, very strange.
“Cutting troops and harming alliances for personal reasons is dangerous and should be rejected by Congress.”
The fascist faction of the “GOP” will go along with the man baby’s temper tantrum, like always. They do not care about our country’s safety, laws, or the Constitution; they care only about the orange bandit and their careers.
All those bad, criminal, and stupid decisions this gangster makes will give the Democrats a greater margin of victory in November.
If the Germans had any spine they would tell TACO you have a week to remove every US soldier from bases in Germany. Then watch the chaos unfold.