World5 min(s) read
Published 11:27 02 May 2026 GMT
Donald Trump has officially pulled the trigger on his threat to withdraw US troops from Germany, after the country's chancellor publicly accused the US of being 'humiliated' in its ongoing war with Iran.
The decision, confirmed on Friday (May 1) by the Pentagon and reported by CNN, will see around 5,000 American troops removed from Germany over the next six to twelve months.
And Germany may not be the only country losing US boots on the ground.
The whole row kicked off on Monday (April 27), when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke to a group of students in Marsberg and accused Iran of running rings around the US in negotiations.
According to Time, Merz said the Iranians were 'obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilled at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result.'
He went further, adding: '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.'
Trump didn't take it well.
The president fired back at Merz on Truth Social, telling the chancellor he should 'spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine, where he has been totally ineffective, and fixing his broken country, especially Immigration and energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran nuclear threat.'
By Friday, the threat had become reality. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed in a statement reported by CNN that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops.
'This decision follows a thorough review of the Department's force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground,' Parnell said.
'We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.'
For context, as of December 2025 there were 36,436 active-duty US military personnel permanently stationed in Germany, the highest number of any foreign country outside Japan. Germany is also home to Ramstein Air Base, the headquarters for US Air Forces in Europe.
Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius played the move down, calling it 'foreseeable' and saying it showed Europe needed to take more responsibility for its own security.
Trump has also made it clear that other European NATO members may be in his crosshairs.
Asked on Thursday (April 30) whether he'd consider pulling US troops from Italy and Spain too, the president didn't hesitate.
'I probably will. Look, why shouldn't I?' Trump said. 'Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible.'
'In all cases they said, "I don't want to get involved."'
According to The New Republic, Trump went on to claim that 'when we needed them they were not there. We have to remember that. And so if we ever have a big one, because we didn't need any help with Iran. We had Iran right from the first day, it was over.'
The Iran war is currently in its eighth week, with no clear end in sight, despite calls from world leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, to bring it to a close.
Trump's frustrations with NATO have been building for some time, and the war with Iran has poured petrol on the fire.
The president has repeatedly accused European allies of being 'cowards' for refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial shipping lane through which around a fifth of the world's oil supply normally flows.
In recent times, Trump has called NATO a 'paper tiger,' said it 'wasn't there for us,' and even floated the idea of pulling the US out of the alliance altogether.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has been working overtime to smooth things over, telling CNN that he'd had 'very frank' and 'very open' discussions with Trump and acknowledged the president was 'clearly disappointed with many NATO allies.'
Trump's anger with NATO is unfolding against a chaotic political backdrop.
The 79-year-old president, who recently revealed his bizarre reason for refusing to wear a bulletproof vest despite three assassination attempts, has been firing off rapid-fire late-night Truth Social rants, posting bizarre images (including a Trump-branded hotel on the Moon), and feuding publicly with everyone from California Governor Gavin Newsom to Pope Leo XIV.
His ongoing row with the pontiff, which prompted him to share an AI-generated image of himself depicted as Jesus Christ, has even led to psychologists analysing what might be behind the attacks.
Meanwhile, the war with Iran continues to drag on.
As reported by Military Times, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth this week argued that the current US-Iran ceasefire 'pauses' the 60-day War Powers clock, a position that's already being challenged by lawmakers from both parties.
Whether Trump's gamble of using American troops as leverage against allies will work, or whether it'll end up driving Europe further away from the US, is now one of the biggest open questions in global politics.
For Berlin, though, the message has already been received loud and clear.
