As US Scales Back Forces Earmarked for NATO, Opportunity Opens for Europe

(Oana Lungescu – RUSI) From Greenland to Iran, President Trump’s hostility and unpredictability have brought transatlantic trust to a new low. In May, Trump announced he would pull out 5,000 of the 35,000 American troops in Germany and cancel the planned deployment of Tomahawks and other long-range missiles. The decision was made in a fit of pique after Chancellor Merz criticised the US handling of the Iran war, saying Tehran had humiliated Washington. Then the Pentagon cancelled at the last minute the rotation of 4,000 troops to Poland, even though Trump had described the country as a ‘model ally.’ Days later, in an abrupt U-turn, he announced that the US would deploy ‘an additional’ 5,000 troops to Poland, based on his personal relationship with Poland’s president Nawrocki. It is unclear where the US troops will come from and whether – as Trump has threatened – other troops may be pulled out of Spain or Italy. – As US Scales Back Forces Earmarked for NATO, Opportunity Opens for Europe | Royal United Services Institute