US withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany after Merz says US ‘humiliated’ by Iran | Trump administration

The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States would withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany, while Donald Trump also threatened Italy and Spain for not helping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The president’s move to reduce the number of personnel assigned to Germany comes after the country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the United States was “humiliated” by Iran.

A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Germany’s recent rhetoric was “inappropriate and unhelpful.”

“The President is rightfully reacting to these counterproductive statements,” the official said.

The withdrawal is expected to be completed within the next 6 to 12 months, the Pentagon said.

A brigade combat team currently in Germany will be withdrawn, and a long-range fire battalion that the Biden administration plans to deploy to Germany later this year will no longer be deployed, the official said.

Germany is the U.S. military’s largest base location in Europe, with approximately 35,000 active-duty military personnel, and serves as a major training center.

The German withdrawal comes at a time of deepening conflict between the United States and its NATO allies over the war in Iran.

While Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez opposed the US-Israeli war against Iran from the beginning, Rome carried out a balancing act by the end of March by rejecting the use of an air base in Sicily by US planes carrying weapons for the war.

Asked late Thursday whether he would consider withdrawing U.S. troops from Italy and Spain, Trump told reporters: “Probably…look, why wouldn’t I? Italy hasn’t done us any good, and Spain has been terrible, absolutely terrible.”

Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto said he did not understand Trump’s intentions in threatening to withdraw US troops from Italy and rejected accusations that Rome was not helping the US, especially with maritime security.

Crosetto touched on Trump’s accusations that European-bound ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

“As everyone knows, this never happened.” Crosetto told Ansa. “We also made ourselves available for the shipping protection mission. This was highly appreciated by the American military.”

Approximately 13,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed at seven naval bases in Italy.

There has been no official response yet from Spain, which has denied US permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory for attacks on Iran and has been the EU’s most outspoken critic of Trump’s war.

Last month, Trump threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain, where about 3,800 active-duty U.S. military personnel are stationed at two joint-use facilities, naval station Rota and Morón air base, by the end of 2025.

At the end of last year, the U.S. military had 68,000 active-duty military personnel permanently assigned to overseas bases in Europe, according to the U.S. Defense Manpower Data Center.

It’s unclear how much support Trump would get for a significant decline. Since the end of the cold war, U.S. bases in Europe have become important forward stages and logistics centers for U.S. military operations initiating and supporting wars, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently Iran.

Defense analysts, opposition Democrats and even some members of Trump’s own Republican party see a strong US military presence in Europe as a vital part of the country’s global military reach; Major troop withdrawals or base closures, particularly in Germany, are likely to cost billions of dollars and significantly reduce Washington’s capacity to conduct operations around the world.

“Continued attacks on NATO allies have harmed Americans,” Republican representative Don Bacon said on social media late Thursday. “The two major airports in Germany give us great access to three continents. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Late last year, in an apparent response to Trump’s threat to downgrade military ties with Europe, the U.S. House passed a defense bill that limits the president’s authority to reduce troop levels, bans troop levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days, and blocks the removal of critical equipment.

German military officials were reportedly optimistic about Trump’s threats early Friday and said cooperation remained close.

“They’re saying, ‘We’ve seen this movie before. It’s going to be a lot of fuss and at the end of the day, nothing is going to change,'” a former senior US military official told Reuters.

The U.S. naval air station at Sigonella, Sicily, has been under the spotlight since the beginning of the conflict in Iran as residents and politicians protested the base’s increased activities.

Italy did not allow a US military plane bound for the Middle East to pass through Sigonella in late March because the US had only requested permission to land when the plane was heading for Sicily.

Under agreements established in the late 1950s, U.S. Navy bases can be used for logistics and training purposes but not as transit hubs for aircraft used to transport weapons for war unless an emergency occurs.

Relations between Rome and Washington soured further after Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, criticized Trump’s treatment of Pope Leo over the Pope’s condemnation of the war on Iran. Trump also accused Meloni of lacking the courage not to join the war.

In Spain, the Rota naval station and Morón air base in Andalusia are under Spanish sovereignty and commanded by Spanish officers but receive significant US funding.

The route is a major hub for the U.S. Navy’s sixth fleet, and Morón is a strategic staging point for U.S. air forces and naval forces for operations in Europe and Africa. Both are seen as key elements of the United States’ power projection in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

Sánchez downplayed reports that the Pentagon is considering punishing “difficult” NATO allies who are unwilling to give the United States access, basing and overflight rights, known as ABO, for attacks on Iran by removing them from the alliance.

The transatlantic defense organization’s founding agreement does not include any mechanism for expelling a member.

Spain’s prime minister had already upset the US president last year by rejecting a NATO proposal that member states increase defense spending to 5% of their GDP, saying the idea was “not only unreasonable but would be counterproductive”.

He told the EU summit last week that Trump’s “illegal war” showed the “failure of brute force”. Sánchez has previously said that Spain “will not be complicit in something that is bad for the world and also contrary to our values ​​and interests.”

On April 1, Trump said he was “absolutely without question” considering withdrawing from NATO due to European allies’ refusal to take part in the war against Iran and to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

A US withdrawal would be disastrous for Europe’s security, but it seems unlikely due to US legislation passed in 2024 that prohibits a president from leaving NATO without a two-thirds majority in the Senate or an act of Congress.