US plans to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany amid rising transatlantic tensions

Prefer on Google by Lucy Pakhnyuk NATO, German, and U.S. flags are seen in Berlin on Nov. 7, 2025. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images) The United States will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany, a key NATO ally, amid rising tensions between Washington and Berlin over the war in Iran. The U.S. Department of Defense made the announcement on May 1, following a week of sharp exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump had earlier threatened to withdraw U.S. forces after Merz criticized Washington's handling of the Iran war. "The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result," Merz said April 27 while speaking to students in western Germany . "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible," he added. Trump responded by calling Merz "totally ineffective." A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters , described recent German rhetoric as "inappropriate and unhelpful." "The president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks," the official said. The Pentagon said the withdrawal is expected to take place over the next six to 12 months. The reduction would bring U.S. troop levels in Europe back to pre-2022 levels, when President Joe Biden increased deployments in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine . Germany hosts the largest U.S. military presence in Europe, with about 35,000 active-duty personnel, and serves as a central hub for training and logistics. The withdrawal was announced the same day Trump introduced plans to impose a 25% tariff on cars and trucks imported from the European Union starting next week, exempting vehicles produced at U.S. plants. Germany, the bloc's largest car exporter, is likely to be hardest hit.