Trump says that he’s is weighing reducing American troop presence in Germany after Iran fued
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump He issued a new threat to NATO ally Germany on Wednesday, suggesting the United States may soon reduce its military presence there as it continues to bicker with Germany. Chancellor Friedrich Merz on US-Israeli war against Iran.
Trump made threats after Merz He said this earlier this week He said the United States was “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war. There is also Trump He got angry at NATO many times Due to the alliance’s refusal to assist the United States in its two-month-long war.
Trump said in his social media post, “The United States is examining and reviewing the possible reduction in the number of troops in Germany, and a decision on this issue should be reached in the next short time.”
Merz said earlier Wednesday that his personal relationship with Trump remained “as good as ever” but that he “had doubts from the very beginning about what was starting there with the war in Iran.”
Trump in his first term in the White House He also took action to cut off US soldiers In Germany, he said, because the country spends too little on defense.
In June 2020, Trump announced that he would withdraw approximately 9,500 of the approximately 34,500 US troops then stationed in Germany, but the process never actually began. Democratic President Joe Biden officially halted planned withdrawal Shortly after taking office in 2021.
The United States maintains several major military installations in the country, including the headquarters of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, Ramstein Air Base, and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American hospital outside the United States.
Merz He met with Trump at the White House in March. Just days after the US and Israel started bombing Iran. At the time, Merz told Trump that Germany was willing to work with the United States on a strategy for when the current Iranian government no longer exists. Merz also expressed concern that a protracted conflict could cause great damage to the global economy.
His concern, like many other European leaders, has been exacerbated by the fact that the United States and Iran have yet to reach an agreement. Strait of HormuzThe critical waterway through which approximately 20% of the world’s global oil supply flowed before the war began. It has been effectively closed since the conflict began on February 28.
“We are suffering seriously in Germany and Europe, for example, from the consequences of closing the Strait of Hormuz,” Merz said Wednesday, hours before Trump posted his threat on social media. “And in this context, I demand that this conflict be resolved.”
Merz added that his government has “good relations” with the Trump administration.
Trump, on the other hand, barely suppresses his disappointment with Merz.
He wrote on Tuesday: “German Chancellor Friedrich Merz thinks it’s okay for Iran to have Nuclear Weapons. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump added that “it is no surprise that Germany is in such a bad situation, both economically and otherwise.”
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AP writer Pietro De Cristofaro reported from Berlin.
