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A spat between the US and Germany has reached new heights, with US President Donald Trump threatening to pull some American troops from the country amid disagreements about the US-led campaign in Iran.
“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Wednesday night.
On Thursday, he expanded his threat to Italy and Spain. “I mean, they haven’t been exactly on board,” Trump answered, when asked about the possibility of cuts to troop levels in the two countries. “Yeah, probably will,” Trump added, “Why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help. Spain has been horrible. Absolutely.”
It comes as Europe and Washington have been at odds over the US’ approach to the war with Iran. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz drew Trump’s wrath this week for comments he made on Monday, in which he said the US was being “humiliated” by Iran and criticized the administration for not having an effective strategy to end the war.
There are 36,436 active-duty US military personnel permanently stationed in Germany, according to data from the US Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) released in December 2025 – a number markedly higher than in other European countries. Trump previously threatened to reduce troop numbers in the country in 2020, during his first tenure in office and while Angela Merkel held the German chancellorship.
As of December, there were more than 12,600 active-duty US military personnel stationed in Italy and more than 3,800 in Spain.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/30/europe/trump-troops-germany-spat-intl
“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Wednesday night.
On Thursday, he expanded his threat to Italy and Spain. “I mean, they haven’t been exactly on board,” Trump answered, when asked about the possibility of cuts to troop levels in the two countries. “Yeah, probably will,” Trump added, “Why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help. Spain has been horrible. Absolutely.”
It comes as Europe and Washington have been at odds over the US’ approach to the war with Iran. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz drew Trump’s wrath this week for comments he made on Monday, in which he said the US was being “humiliated” by Iran and criticized the administration for not having an effective strategy to end the war.
There are 36,436 active-duty US military personnel permanently stationed in Germany, according to data from the US Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) released in December 2025 – a number markedly higher than in other European countries. Trump previously threatened to reduce troop numbers in the country in 2020, during his first tenure in office and while Angela Merkel held the German chancellorship.
As of December, there were more than 12,600 active-duty US military personnel stationed in Italy and more than 3,800 in Spain.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/30/europe/trump-troops-germany-spat-intl
