The chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees said Saturday they were “very concerned” about the withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany amid a feud between President Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Trump announced on Wednesday that he was considering the possibility of reducing U.S. troops in Germany.
“We are deeply concerned by the decision to withdraw U.S. military brigades from Germany,” Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said in a joint statement. “Germany has responded to President Trump’s call for greater burden-sharing by significantly increasing defense spending and providing seamless access, bases and overflights for U.S. troops in support of epic Operation Fury.”
Wicker and Rogers said a “premature reduction” of the U.S. military presence in Europe “sends the wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They argued that with European allies “spending 5% of GDP on defence…” it would take time to assess whether they should be allowed to take on major responsibilities.
The chairmen suggested that rather than withdrawing troops from Europe entirely, they should be moved to the East. They also insisted that a “significant” change in the United States’ posture in Europe would require a “thoughtful review process.”
“We expect that the Department of Defense will engage with its oversight committees in the coming days and weeks regarding this decision and its implications for U.S. deterrence and transatlantic security,” the statement concluded.
Wicker and Rogers had previously criticized the withdrawal of troops from Romania last fall, saying they opposed the Pentagon’s ongoing force posture review process. They said this could lead to “a further withdrawal of U.S. troops from Eastern Europe.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Friday that the withdrawal is expected to be completed within the next six to 12 months. The decision to withdraw troops comes after the Department of Defense reviewed U.S. posture in Europe.
Before announcing the withdrawal, Trump criticized Mertz, saying he had miscalculated the Iranian nuclear threat. He said Mertz should shift his focus from focusing on the U.S. conflict with Iran to Russia’s war in Ukraine “and repair his broken country.”
Trump blasted Mertz and other NATO allies for not stepping up and cooperating with the United States to launch “Operation Fury of epic proportions” in Iran.
Mertz told German students on Monday that the United States “clearly” has no “strategic plan” for a war with Iran.
“Especially because the Iranians negotiate very skillfully, or rather, very skillfully not to negotiate,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “And then have the Americans go to Islamabad and send them back with no results. The entire country is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership and especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards.”
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