The United States is withdrawing 5,000 troops from NATO ally Germany, the Pentagon announced on Friday, as a rift over the Iran war widens between President Donald Trump and Europe.
Trump had threatened a drawdown in forces earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said on Monday the Iranians were humiliating the U.S. in talks to end the two-month-old war.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said recent German rhetoric had been "inappropriate and unhelpful."
"The president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks," the official said.
The Pentagon said the withdrawal was expected to be completed over the next six to twelve months.
The official said the drawdown would bring U.S. troop levels in Europe back to roughly pre-2022 levels, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a buildup by then President Joe Biden.
A brigade combat team now in Germany will be pulled out of the country and a long-range fires battalion that the Biden administration had planned to begin deploying to Germany later this year will no longer deploy, the official said.
Germany is the U.S. military's biggest basing location in Europe, with some 35,000 active-duty military personnel, and serves as a key training hub.
Trump has singled out Germany even as he has harshly criticised other NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict.
The waterway, a chokepoint for global oil shipments, has remained virtually shut, causing market turmoil and unprecedented disruption in energy supplies.
Merz has said Germans and Europeans were not consulted before the U.S. and Israel started attacking Iran on 28 February, and that he had conveyed his scepticism about the conflict directly to Trump afterwards.
"The president has been very clear about his frustrations about our allies' rhetoric and failure to provide support for U.S. operations that benefit them," the senior Pentagon official said.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according t...
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation o...
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. Presiden...
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday (9 October) escalating tensions with European allies and potentially targeting companies that provide services to the tribunal. The move came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over disputed changes to voter lists.
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports, questioning why Moscow was granted an economic benefit without an apparent concession towards ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed surprise after Donald Trump mediated the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement in 2025, the U.S. President said at a rally in New York state on Friday.
The United Nations has condemned a sharp rise in attacks on civilians in Ukraine, reporting that more than 100 people were killed and at least 429 injured in a single week as Russian strikes hit residential areas, passenger buses and critical infrastructure.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment