Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal after reviewing U.S. troop buildup in Europe and is in response to “heater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” Parnell said. “We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”
Trump first floated withdrawing troops from Germany on Wednesday as an extension of his frustration over NATO and European allies measured support for the war in Iran. That proposal surprised Pentagon officials, who had not heard of a troop pullback floated as a possibility prior to the president’s threat in a social media post.
There are 38,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany, home to U.S. European Command and Africa Command — by far the largest deployment of American forces in Europe.
The Pentagon concluded its review of U.S. military posture around the globe earlier this year. That report did not call for a major withdrawal of troops from Europe, but it did pledge to commit more military assets to the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific and leave European security to European nations.
Earlier this year the Pentagon announced it would not replace an Army brigade that was scheduled to leave Romania, setting off alarm bells within NATO. But the Romania and Germany withdrawals should not have any major effect on European security, especially as most NATO allies are spending more on their own military capabilities and in increasing the size of their armed forces.