Trump says the US is reviewing a potential reduction of its troops in Germany

President Donald Trump, who has criticized Germany and other NATO allies for not ​sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, said on Wednesday his administration is looking at reducing the number of ‌U.S. troops in Germany.
"The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time," Trump said on Truth Social.

A senior White House official had told Reuters earlier this month that Trump had discussed the possibility of removing some U.S. troops from Europe.
The U.S. had just ​over 68,000 active-duty military personnel assigned permanently in its overseas bases in Europe as of December 2025, data from the U.S. Defense Manpower ​Data Center (DMDC) shows.
More than half - about 36,400 - are based in Germany. That is a fraction of the 250,000 U.S. troops ⁠that were based there in 1985, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

Trump ​has been sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war in Iran in recent days. On Tuesday, he said Merz didn't know what he was ​talking about after the German leader said the Iranians were humiliating the U.S. in talks to end the two-month-old war. Merz on Wednesday said relations with Trump were good, despite the row over the war.