President Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of five thousand American troops from Germany. The number of American forces in Europe will fall back to pre-invasion levels, before Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal broke the story in the early hours of May 2. Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell confirmed that the decision followed a thorough review of U.S. force posture in Europe, adding that the drawdown would be completed over a period of six months to a year.
Senior Pentagon officials told the Journal that the withdrawal involves one Army brigade. The Biden administration’s earlier plan to deploy an additional battalion to Germany by the end of 2026 has also been scrapped.
The move comes directly in response to remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who days earlier publicly criticized Washington, saying the United States had “no discernible strategy” in its war against Iran. A senior Pentagon official confirmed that Trump issued the withdrawal order as a reaction to what the administration described as Merz’s “counterproductive comments.”
Germany hosts the largest American military hub in Europe, with more than 36,000 U.S. troops currently stationed there. Across the continent, the United States maintains roughly 85,000 military personnel, including the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford operating in the Mediterranean Sea.
Once the withdrawal is complete, the total number of American troops in Europe will return to levels last seen in 2022 — before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. significantly expanded its presence on the continent to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank.
The decision fits into a broader pattern within the Trump administration: earlier discussions had centered on redeploying forces away from NATO allies that declined to support the U.S. military campaign against Iran, and moving them closer to Russia’s western borders toward countries that took a more supportive stance.
