Politico reports:

President Donald Trump’s announcement Wednesday that he was considering pulling some U.S. troops out of Germany stunned defense officials, who scrambled to figure out if the president was serious about following through on his threats this time.

Trump’s social media post was the first that many had heard of a potential new push to take hundreds, if not thousands, of American troops out of Germany, according to three defense officials. It strongly contrasts a recently concluded monthslong review of the Pentagon’s global troop footprint, which did not call for major pullbacks from Europe.

The Pentagon “was not expecting it and has not been planning any kind of drawdown,” said a congressional aide familiar with the situation. “But we have to take him seriously because he was serious about it during his first administration,” referring to Trump’s July 2020 order to pull 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany that was never implemented.

While previous threats from Trump have not come to fruition, he’s ratcheted up his anti-European rhetoric in his second term, from threatening to pull out of NATO due to allies’ failure to join the Iran war to warning he might seize Greenland.

Trump’s latest threat to the transatlantic alliance comes just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by Iran at the negotiating table. Trump continued to launch broadsides against the German leader on Thursday, calling for Merz to “spend more time” on ending Russia’s war with Ukraine and solving European energy and immigration problems “and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat.”

Trump’s initial post came hours after he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long sought to reduce the number of NATO troops in Europe. And it occurred as Germany’s Chief of Defence, Gen. Carsten Breuer, wrapped up a day of meetings with U.S. officials in Washington to discuss Berlin’s new defense strategy.

German officials reacted with surprise to the president’s posts after having had productive talks with their U.S. counterparts, said a senior German official, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to talk about sensitive military planning.

“As Europe’s largest economy, Germany has the ambition to take on a greater leadership role within NATO,” Breuer told reporters after those meetings. “It’s clear for Germany to take over more responsibility” of its own defense.

Trump’s comments also came as Army Secretary Dan Driscoll wrapped up a two-day trip to German training ranges to underscore the U.S. presence in the country.

The president on Thursday floated the idea of pulling troops out of Spain and Italy as well. “Why shouldn’t I?’” he told reporters. “Italy has not been of any help to us. And Spain has been horrible. Absolutely horrible.”

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the department “plans for every scenario, and we are fully prepared to execute the orders of the commander-in-chief at the time and place of his choosing.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Taking out American forces could remove a major military deterrent against a rearming Russia, which European officials believe is preparing to attack NATO soil in the coming years. And Trump’s threats have made European officials, who are already making plans to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Trump, even more sick of America playing hostage diplomacy with allies.

Even a review of U.S. troops in Germany could further ignite tensions in the alliance after several NATO members denied the Pentagon access to their bases for the Iran war.

“Trump’s policy of crude threats has reached its limits,” said a German official. “His rhetoric has worn thin. Withdrawing U.S. troops from Germany would severely weaken the U.S. itself, and we wonder when the adults in D.C. plan to step back into the spotlight.” [Continue reading…]