Soldiers of the U.S. Army V Corps salute during a color casing ceremony to mark the departure of V Corps headquarters from Europe on May 10, 2012 at the U.S. Army base in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Ralph Orlowski | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The U.S. is considering reducing the number of troops it has stationed in Germany, President Donald Trump said Thursday, amid a growing dispute with Berlin over the Iran war.
“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 posted on social media platform Truth Social overnight Thursday.
The U.S. had just over 36,000 active-duty military personnel across a number of significant bases in Germany as of December 2025, according to data from the U.S. Defense Manpower Data Center, representing the largest such contingent in Europe.
Many troops and their families are based at Ramstein Air Base, which serves as a major transportation hub and command center for U.S. military operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. A significant number are also based at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, the largest U.S. Army training facility in Europe.
Analysts suggest a withdrawal of troops in Germany would be a logistical headache and ultimately damage U.S. interests.
The president gave no further details on the review, but any move to withdraw forces would be a blow to NATO allies in Europe who value the U.S. presence as a major deterrent against threats like Russia.
Tit for tat
Trump’s comments come as relations with his German counterpart, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, appear to have worsened.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks with US President Donald Trump before the start of the North Atlantic Council plenary meeting at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in The Hague on June 25, 2025.
Ludovic Marin | Via Reuters
The German leader raised Washington’s hackles earlier this week when he said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian regime as a result of on-off negotiations with White House officials to end the conflict.
Talks appear to have stalled with Trump reportedly rejecting an Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifted its ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and ended the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday.
Germany’s leader said Monday that the Iranians appeared to be giving U.S. officials the runaround.
“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” Merz told university students on Monday.
“An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible,” Merz added, echoing other European leaders who have called for a quick resolution to the conflict which has caused oil prices and energy costs to rocket.
Trump hit back at Merz’s remarks, posting on Truth Social that Merz appeared to think it was “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”
“No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” Trump commented.
When asked about his relationship with Trump during a press conference on Wednesday, Merz said the “personal relationship between the American president and myself remains just as good as before.”