President Donald Trump said that his administration is “studying and reviewing” a decrease in the number of U.S. troops in Germany.
Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to say a decision on the same would be made “over the next short period of time.”
According to the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), the U.S. had over 36,000 active-duty personnel across 20 bases in Germany as of December 2025, its largest presence in Europe, with many stationed at Ramstein Air Base and the Grafenwoehr Training Area.
The announcement came hours after a meeting between Germany’s top general, Carsten Breuer, and U.S. Defense Undersecretary Elbridge Colby. The meeting was to discuss Germany’s first military strategy outside the NATO umbrella since World War II.
Colby praised the German document on X, released last week, which outlines Berlin’s ambition to become Europe’s largest conventional force.
NATO Rift Grows As Germany Rearms
This development comes amid increasing tensions between the U.S. and its European NATO allies. Earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the U.S.’s handling of the war with Iran, stating that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership.
He questioned the U.S.’s exit strategy in the conflict, highlighting the widening rift between Washington and its European NATO allies over strategy and end goals.
Meanwhile, Germany recently overtook the U.S. in ammunition production capacity, as reported by Newsweek. As Europe accelerates rearmament, German defense giant Rheinmetall (OTC:RNMBY) (OTC:RNMBF) announced that it has sharply increased ammunition output to 1.1 million, up from 70,000, now exceeding U.S. levels, reported Newsweek earlier this week, citing German media.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image: Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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