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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pentagon has formally ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 American troops from Germany over the next six to twelve months, a dramatic escalation of the deepening rift between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that has rattled NATO allies and raised urgent questions about the future of European security.

The order, transmitted late Friday and confirmed by senior defense officials over the weekend, marks the largest single reduction in U.S. force posture in Germany since the end of the Cold War. And in remarks to reporters in Florida on Saturday, the president made clear that the announcement is only the beginning. "We're going to cut way down," Trump said. "And we're cutting a lot further than 5,000."

A Sudden Break Between Old Allies

The withdrawal stems from a public feud that erupted earlier this week when Chancellor Merz, a longtime conservative ally of Washington, accused the United States of being "humiliated by the Iranian leadership" during the recently ended hostilities and criticized what he called the absence of a coherent American strategy in the conflict. Trump responded by threatening to pull American forces from Germany entirely, a threat the Pentagon order now begins to carry out.

Roughly 35,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Germany, primarily at the major hubs of Ramstein Air Base, Spangdahlem Air Base, and U.S. Army Europe headquarters in Wiesbaden. Defense officials briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity that the initial 5,000-person reduction will draw mainly from Army units stationed at Grafenwoehr and Vilseck, with some support personnel pulled from Stuttgart.

Pentagon Officials Sound Alarms

Senior military leaders have privately expressed deep concern over the speed of the withdrawal. Germany has long served as the central logistics and medical hub for U.S. operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and Ramstein in particular plays a critical role in moving troops and equipment in any major contingency.

"Germany is not just a basing decision — it's the spine of our European posture," a senior Pentagon official said. "Pulling 5,000 troops in a year is manageable but painful. Pulling 'a lot more,' as the president suggested, would be a strategic earthquake."

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, normally aligned with the White House, broke publicly with the administration over the move. The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees released a rare joint statement Saturday saying they were "very concerned" by the decision and warning that the withdrawal "should not be undertaken without rigorous analysis of the implications for U.S. and allied security."