Five thousand US service members will be pulled out of Germany, the Pentagon said, after a formal review of American force posture and amid a public spat between President Donald Trump and German leader Merz. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the instruction came from Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and that the withdrawal should be completed in six to 12 months. The US maintains a large active-duty presence in Germany, with many personnel and families based at Ramstein and other major bases. The decision reshapes Washington's military footprint in Europe while testing ties with Berlin as Germany increases defence spending.

Order issued from Pentagon leadership

The Pentagon announced an authorised cut of 5,000 troops from German soil after a fresh review of American force posture in Europe. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the order came from Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. "The decision follows a thorough review of the Department's force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground," Parnell said. He added, "We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months."

The statement makes the reduction official. It names a timeframe. It also ties the move to a formal review, not to a sudden withdrawal.

Size and location of US forces in Germany

The US presence in Germany has been the largest in Europe. Data from the US Defence Manpower Data Center showed just over 36,000 active-duty personnel in Germany as of December 2025. Many of those troops and their families are based at Ramstein Air Base. Ramstein is a key transport hub and command centre for US operations across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Other important sites include the Grafenwoehr Training Area, one of the biggest US Army training grounds in Europe.

The US also keeps sizeable contingents elsewhere in Europe. There are about 12,000 US troops in Italy and roughly 10,000 in the United Kingdom. Only Japan hosts a larger US overseas troop presence, according to public figures cited in recent reporting.

Political row between Washington and Berlin

The troop cut comes amid a sharp public exchange between President Trump and Germany's leader, Merz. The spat began over the war in Iran and allied participation in operations near the Strait of Hormuz. Merz told university students this week that he couldn't see a clear American strategy.

He criticised US handling of diplomacy with Iran and said the nation felt humiliated by Iran's leadership, remarks that signalled frustration with US policy.

President Trump responded on his social platform. He accused Merz of being soft on Iran and said Germany was doing poorly economically and otherwise. Trump also threatened broader reductions of US forces in other Nato countries, asking rhetorically why he should keep troops in allies who wouldn't get involved.

How this compares with past US moves

This isn't the first time Washington has proposed moving troops out of Germany. In 2020, an earlier plan to shift 12,000 troops from Germany either back to the United States or to other Nato countries was blocked by Congress and later reversed by President Joe Biden. That episode left a legislative and political footprint showing such moves face pushback in Washington and among Nato partners.

The current decision is smaller in scale than the 2020 proposal, but it carries similar diplomatic weight because Germany hosts major logistics and command facilities. Those facilities are woven into wider Nato planning. Changing them changes how the US projects power and supports allies.

Mastheads

Relations between Washington and Berlin have shifted since the earlier row over burden sharing. Germany has moved towards higher defence spending under the Merz government. German defence outlays are projected to reach €105.8 billion in 2027. Total defence expenditure is set to reach about 3.1 percent of GDP in 2027, a sharp rise from earlier years and well above Nato's 2 percent guideline.

That rise in spending makes the narrative that cuts are solely about burden sharing. The Pentagon framed the move as the result of a posture review. But the cut comes while Berlin boosts its military budget, which may alter debates inside Nato about the purpose and location of US forces in Europe.

Planners say moving thousands of troops is logistically demanding. Pulling personnel and equipment from established bases takes time, trucks and aircraft. It also requires decisions about what stays, what moves to other allied countries, and what returns to the United States. Some analysts have flagged the risk that a reduced footprint weakens deterrence against threats such as Russia, and that a thinner presence would complicate rapid responses in crises.

Ramstein's role as a hub for operations across multiple theatres adds a practical layer to those concerns. Reducing troop numbers there will affect movement, training rotations and command support. How the Pentagon reallocates personnel will shape Nato's force posture across Europe.

In Washington the move plays into a domestic political argument about how the US should use its military overseas. President Trump has long criticised some Nato allies for not meeting spending targets and has used troop posture as leverage. The White House review and the Secretary of Defence's order show that leverage is now shaping deployments.

In Berlin the decision arrives as the government is pressing ahead with larger defence budgets. That spending rise follows pressure from multiple directions, including public debate about national security. The troop cut may force German political leaders to explain what they want from the US military presence and how Germany plans to use its growing defence budget in partnership with Nato.

Nato capitals value the US presence in Germany as a deterrent and a hub for logistics. A withdrawal will prompt consultations inside the alliance about force placement and burden sharing. The Pentagon said the withdrawal will be completed in between six and 12 months. That gives Nato members and the German government a short window to plan for changes in force posture and to negotiate what happens to bases, infrastructure and allied cooperation.

At the same time, US forces in Italy and the UK remain sizeable. How the Pentagon splits resources between remaining bases and other forward positions will be a key operational question over the next few months.

US bases bring local jobs and economic activity to communities near Ramstein and other installations. A reduction of 5,000 troops will affect base economies, housing markets and local services. The size of that effect will depend on whether families move with the troops or if personnel are redeployed to other countries. Past troop shifts have left a mix of longer term economic impacts on host regions.

For Germany, higher defence spending means more procurement and investment, which can boost defence-related industries. But local economic losses near a shrinking base may offset some gains at the national level.

Those trade-offs will show up as governments, companies and communities react to the Pentagon's timetable.

The Pentagon said the move follows a review acknowledging theatre requirements. President Trump framed the decision as part of a review of US troop levels in allies' countries and he publicly criticised some Nato partners for lack of participation in operations. Officials in Germany have publicly voiced frustration with US policy choices in recent days, and Berlin's increase in defence spending shows a push to reshape its role within Nato.

How national capitals respond in formal Nato consultations will determine the final allocation of forces and the long term posture in Europe.

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"We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months," said Sean Parnell, Pentagon spokesman.

This article was created with AI assistance.