US to pull 5,000 troops from Germany within a year
WASHINGTON - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany.
A Pentagon spokesperson told dpa that the withdrawal is expected to be completed within the next six to 12 months.
The Pentagon said that the decision “follows a thorough review of the (Defense) Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
The announcement comes after an unguarded comment by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggesting the Iranian government has “humiliated” the U.S. in negotiations prompted an angry response from President Donald Trump earlier in the week.
On Monday, Merz said that the Trump administration had “quite obviously gone into this war in Iran without any strategy at all” and saying that the U.S. has been “humiliated” by Tehran.
Trump hit back by launching a fierce verbal attack against Merz, saying the German leader “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” and that he “should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine.”
The U.S. president also said his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany.”
Trump had previously threatened to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Germany during his first presidential term in 2017-21.
According to U.S. military figures from mid-April, around 86,000 U.S. soldiers are currently stationed in Europe, including around 39,000 in Germany. The number changes regularly, partly because of rotations and military exercises.
For decades, there have been dozens of major U.S. military bases in Europe that are of enormous importance to U.S. operations around the world, including in the Middle East. Troops, weapons, ships and aircraft are stationed there, drones are controlled from the bases and wounded personnel are treated.
In Germany, these include the U.S. European Command, or EUCOM, in Stuttgart and Ramstein Air Base in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which serves as a hub for the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. also maintains important bases in Italy and the United Kingdom.
The U.S. Congress passed a security mechanism at the end of 2025 under which the total number of forces permanently stationed in the European Command area of responsibility may not fall below 76,000 for more than 45 days. After that, certain reporting requirements would have to be met to pursue a reduction.
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