President Donald Trump is at odds with European allies who are reluctant to step up support for a war against Iran.
Published May 1, 2026
The US military has announced it will withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, according to media reports, amid continuing tensions with key European allies over the US war against Iran.
The Pentagon made the decision on Friday, days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Iran was humiliating the United States during end-of-war negotiations, Reuters reported.
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“The president is responding correctly to these counterproductive statements,” the report quoted an anonymous official as saying.
The news agency reported that the withdrawal is expected to take place within the next six to 12 months. This decision was also reported by CBS News, citing a senior defense official.
President Donald Trump has slammed European allies for not doing more to support the United States and Israel’s war against Iran, saying on Wednesday that he is considering withdrawing troops from European countries deemed insufficiently supported.
US news outlet Politico reported earlier this week, citing unnamed defense officials and congressional aides, that President Trump’s threat to withdraw troops from European countries caught the military by surprise.
President Trump attacked Germany in another social media post Thursday, saying Merz should spend less time “interfering with forces seeking to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat” and more time ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, thereby making the world, including Germany, a safer place.
European nations have been hesitant to commit their troops to the U.S. war against Iran, and Mertz and other leaders were initially hesitant to criticize the U.S. attack, which is widely considered illegal under international law.
But criticism has grown as the war has severely disrupted regional energy supplies and sent shock waves across the global economy. Earlier this week, Mertz compared the war to past military quagmires, including the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It’s a pretty complicated situation at the moment,” he said. “And it’s costing us a lot of money. This conflict, this war against Iran, has a direct impact on our economic production.”
