Trump To Withdraw 5,000 Troops From Germany Amidst Rift With Merz

US President Donald Trump is all set to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, a NATO ally, amidst a rift with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

The Pentagon announced, on Friday (May 1, 2026), that the US was withdrawing the troops, even as a senior official claimed German rhetoric had been “inappropriate and unhelpful” in the American war on Iran.

Trump had earlier this week threatened to withdraw forces from Germany after a war of words with Merz, and general differences of opinion on the Iran war with European allies.

The German Chancellor had said on Monday (April 27) that Iranians were humiliating the US during the peace talks in Islamabad to end the two-month-old war. He also said that he did not see what the US’s exit strategy was on Iran.

“The president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks,” the unnamed Pentagon official was quoted as saying. The Pentagon said the forces’ withdrawal from Germany, where 35,000 troops were on active duty, much more than anywhere else in Europe, was expected to be completed within the next 6 to 12 months.

The troop drawdown would bring American force levels in Europe back to roughly pre-2022 levels, when the Russia-Ukraine war began. The then US President Joe Biden decided to increase the number of troops in Europe in view of the Ukraine war.

The Pentagon official framed the Trump administration’s decision as a push for Europe to take care of its own security. It was also Trump’s signal to allies whom he felt were “disloyal.”

It is unclear if more withdrawals from Europe will follow. On Thursday (April 30), Trump said “probably” when asked whether he would consider pulling US troops out of Italy and Spain.

Last month, the US President threatened to impose a full US trade embargo on Spain. The threat came after the Spanish Socialist leadership said it would not allow its bases or airspace to be used to attack Iran. Spain hosts the US at two of its military bases, at Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base.

Trump has also clashed with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over the Iran war and Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo. He said in April that Meloni, once a strong Trump supporter, lacked courage and had let Washington down.

Trump has chastised NATO allies, too, for not ‌sending their ⁠navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway, a chokepoint for global oil shipments, has remained virtually shut during the Iran conflict, causing market turmoil and unprecedented disruption in energy supplies.

“The president has been very clear about his frustrations about our allies’ rhetoric and failure to provide support for US operations that benefit them,” the senior Pentagon official said.

Merz has said Germans and Europeans were not consulted before the US and Israel started attacking Iran on February 28, and that he had conveyed his scepticism about the conflict directly to Trump afterwards.

Meanwhile, Trump said he would hike tariffs on automobiles from the European Union (EU) to 25%, which could jolt the world economy when it is already reeling over the US-Israel war on Iran.

The announcement came months after the US and the EU signed a trade deal after Trump imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs on trade partners globally.

The US-EU trade deal had set the tariffs on most goods at 15%, much lower than the 30% Trump had previously threatened to impose.

The US President, in a Truth Social post, accused the EU of “not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal,” without providing further details.

Trump added that he “fully understood and agreed that, if they produce Cars and Trucks in the U.S.A. Plants, there will be NO TARIFF.”

A European Commission spokesperson rejected Trump’s claims that the EU was somehow not in compliance. “We ⁠remain fully committed ⁠to a predictable, mutually beneficial transatlantic relationship,” the spokesperson said.

The commission “will keep our options open to protect ‌EU ‌interests” if Trump does not honour the pre-existing deal, the spokesperson said.