The president of the United States, annoyed by allies’ reluctance to help with their security and angry that his plans to buy Greenland did not come to fruition, discussed with his advisers the possibility of withdrawing American forces from Europe, a senior White House official told Reuters.
No decision has been made and the White House has not asked the Pentagon to draw up specific plans to reduce the number of US troops in Europe, said the official, who asked not to be identified.
However, the very fact that there has been any discussion of the issue underlines how much Washington’s relations with its European NATO allies have deteriorated in recent months. It is also suggested that Alliance chief Mark Rutte’s visit to the White House on Wednesday did little to improve relations, which are arguably at their worst level since NATO was founded in 1949.
Today, more than 80,000 American troops are stationed in Europe – 30,000 plus in Germany. Several thousand are also in Italy, Britain and Spain.
NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The official did not specify which countries would be affected or how many troops might be withdrawn if Trump decides to move forward with the plan.
Alliance in crisis
While Trump’s relationship with NATO has always been rocky — for years he has accused the Europeans of not spending enough on their defense — the last three months have been particularly tumultuous. In January, the US president sparked a transatlantic crisis when he repeated his threat to annex Greenland, which is the territory of Denmark, a US ally in NATO. After war broke out in Iran on February 28, he expressed displeasure that his allies did not offer to help reopen the Straits of Hormuz.
NATO diplomats say the US has not made clear whether it expects to launch a mission in Hormuz during or after the war. They also did not specify what they would expect from each individual NATO country.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that U.S. government officials are discussing moving troops stationed in Europe from countries whose leaders have criticized the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to other European countries whose leaders have appeared more supportive.
The White House official told Reuters that Trump was specifically discussing bringing the troops back to the US, rather than moving them to different, foreign countries.
