President Trump Announces The U.S. May Soon Pull Troops From Longstanding European Ally

The United States military presence in Germany may soon be reduced.

In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, President Trump announced that the U.S. is currently evaluating measures to possibly reduce U.S. Forces in Germany.

Germany currently hosts the second-largest number of U.S. soldiers outside of the U.S., behind only Japan.

CBS News had the full scoop on Trump’s announcement about the possible move:

President Trump said Wednesday he is considering reducing the number of U.S. forces in Germany, amid a spat with Germany’s chancellor and the NATO alliance over Iran.

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The U.S. military has a massive presence in Germany that dates back to the aftermath of World War II and the Cold War. More than 36,000 active duty troops were assigned to bases throughout Germany as of last December, along with nearly 1,500 reservists and 11,500 civilians, according to Defense Department figures.

Germany is also home to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command, and its Ramstein Air Base is a key hub for U.S. operations.

The president has grown increasingly frustrated with the U.S.’s allies in Europe, which have sought to keep their distance from the U.S.-Iran war. He has threatened to leave NATO, calling the alliance a “paper tiger” for not entering the war. A 2023 law prevents the president from withdrawing the U.S. from NATO without approval from Congress.

Meanwhile, Europe is grappling with higher energy prices as the Iran conflict severely constrains oil exports from the Middle East.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appeared to draw Mr. Trump’s ire after he criticized the U.S.’s handling of the war earlier this week, saying “the Americans clearly have no strategy” on Iran and suggesting the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iranian negotiators.

Take a look at Trump’s full statement below:

TRUMP: The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/HoxrCJZOiG

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 29, 2026

Two days earlier, President Trump shared on Truth Social that the Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Fox News reported more on both of Trump’s comments regarding U.S. relations with Germany.

Watch here:

🚨 IT'S OFFICIAL: President Trump FIRES BACK at German Chancellor Merz by threatening to WITHDRAW a swath of US troops from the country

Merz sounded off and said Trump is being "humiliated" by Iran

The Chancellor is now FRANTIC, trying to soft-walk his comments and saying he… pic.twitter.com/bY5GrNvrcS

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 30, 2026

In recent years, Germany’s right-wing party, the AfD, has called for U.S. troops to leave the country.

Newsweek had the entire story on why the AfD wants U.S. soldiers to leave:

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has called for the U.S. to pull all of its troops from the European country after reports suggested U.S. President Donald Trump is considering withdrawing American soldiers from the country.

AfD co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, told a party gathering in east Germany on Saturday that the country should chase an “independent” foreign policy, starting with the removal of American soldiers.

Just under 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, close to half the total number in Europe.

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The country hosts the major Ramstein air base, home to NATO’s air and space forces, vital for coordinating activities like air defense operations. German bases are also a springboard for U.S. missions in the Middle East.

AfD has long called for foreign soldiers to leave Germany, and the party’s manifesto demands the withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from German soil.

The U.S. keeps roughly 100 B-61 nuclear gravity bombs in bases across Europe, including in western Germany. These are tactical nuclear weapons, less destructive than the long-range missiles launched from U.S. silos, submarines and bombers that can level cities.

Trump and his administration have long weighed up whether to dramatically scale back the U.S. military footprint in Europe, originally part of Washington’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific and the threat of China.

Do you think that the U.S. should scale back its military presence in Germany?

Let us know your thoughts below!