The Pentagon announced plans to withdraw around 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany over the next six to 12 months, though it remains unclear which bases would be affected and whether forces would return to the United States or be redeployed elsewhere, Reuters reported on May 1. The decision also cancels a previously planned deployment in Germany of a U.S. battalion equipped with long-range Tomahawk missiles.

The drawdown follows renewed tensions between Washington and Berlin over the war in Iran, after Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized U.S. strategy and recent negotiations, prompting a sharp response from Trump, who has long advocated reducing the U.S. military presence in Europe. The move also comes amid broader frictions within NATO, compounded by several European allies declining to support recent U.S. operations in Iran, and ongoing U.S. pressure on partners to increase defense spending. Trump previously ordered troop withdrawals from Germany in 2020, a move later blocked by Congress and reversed by the Biden administration.