German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday that the U.S. decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany was foreseeable, as Nato said it was seeking clarification from Washington about the move.
The German deployment is the largest American troop presence in Europe, with more than 36,000 active duty troops stationed in the country. By comparison, the U.S. has about 12,000 troops in Italy and 10,000 in the UK. Allison Hart, a Nato spokeswoman, said the alliance was “working with the US to understand the details of their decision.”
Pistorius tried to lower the temperature even as he acknowledged the significance of the cut. He said the presence of American soldiers in Europe, and particularly in Germany, was in the interests of both countries, while adding that Germany must take greater responsibility for its own security. He also said Berlin would work more closely with allies on the continent and insisted that “Germany is on the right track.”
The move lands amid a broader argument in Washington over how much force the United States should keep in Europe. Last year, Washington decided to reduce its troop presence in Romania as part of Donald Trump’s plan to shift the focus of U.S. military commitment from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region. Trump has also criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for saying the United States had been humiliated by Iranian negotiators in the ongoing war, and suggested pulling U.S. troops from Italy and Spain as well.
That unease is shared by lawmakers in Washington. Roger Wicker and Mike Rogers said they were “very concerned by the decision to withdraw a US brigade from Germany” and argued that it remained in the U.S. interest to keep a strong deterrent in Europe rather than pull forces from the continent altogether.
Across Europe, the pressure to spend more on defence is becoming harder to ignore. Nato’s 32-member alliance has been rattled by warnings from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said on Saturday that “the greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance.” He added: “We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.”
Germany is now projected to spend €105.8bn on defence in 2027, with defence expenditure set to reach 3.1% of GDP when other defence funds are included, including Berlin’s continuing aid to Ukraine. For Pistorius, the numbers back up his argument that Europe has to carry more of the load. For Nato, the troop cut is another reminder that it needs Washington and Europe aligned on what shared security now looks like.
