Trump vows to cut US troops stationed in Germany 'way down'

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US President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on an announcement a day earlier of plans to withdraw some 5,000 US troops from Germany.

"We're going to ⁠cut ​way ​down, and ​we're ‌cutting a ​lot further ⁠than 5,000," Trump told reporters in Florida.

Find out where the 35,000 to 39,000 US soldiers, plus about 13,000 Air Force personnel, are currently stationed across Germany.

The Trump administration’s decision to remove 5,000 US troops currently stationed in Germany poses a huge challenge for Europe, Marina Miron, military analyst at King's College London, told DW.

Pointing out that US military personnel in Germany are supposed to serve as a "deterrent against external threats such as Russia," she said the German military "cannot fill this gap very quickly, even if money is invested."

Miron believes the US move could give a chance for Germany to assume a stronger role within NATO but, in the short term, it creates a huge gap in military capabilities.

"There is no way that Germany and other European countries which will be affected by this withdrawal, let's say Poland and the Baltics, can fill this capabilities gap."

The US has also recently warned its European partners of delays in US weapons deliveries amid the Mideast conflict.

The delays "will have a great impact not just on European defense, but also on the war in Ukraine, specifically because a lot of European systems are operating US weapons systems," said Miron.

"So one critical point is troop withdrawal. The other one is the delay in delivery. And we don't know how long this delay will last, which puts a European defense in a very weak spot right now."

Ramstein Mayor Ralf Hechler told DW that his town expected the US decision to pull 5,000 troops from the US air base that is stationed there.

"Yeah, we we saw it coming because the president of the United States [is] directly the boss of the military and he's able to take troops for a term away from where they are based."

"In his first term as president he said that many soldiers from Germany will be taken away."

He stressed that people in the town were "calm" in the face of the decision.

"We don't have any fear," Hechler said.

He described the base as "the largest American community" outside of the United States, amounting to around 45,000 soldiers and their relatives, or some 54,000 US citizens in total.

He added that this brought some $2 billion (€1.7 billion) into the region per year.

The town of Ramstein-Miesenbach lies in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Besides the US air base, it is also home to the NATO air command headquarters AIRCOM.

Trump trying to 'punish Germany' — Ramstein mayor

The mayor of Ramstein-Miesenbach told DW that he believes that Trump was withdrawing troops from the region for political reasons, despite the Pentagon's insistence on technical ones.

"Yeah, this is one of the reasons — [it is] what the president uses to try to punish Germany," Hechler said.

"He punished France, he punished Great Britain, he punished the Pope, he punished the Italians and the Spanish government because they would not support the missions. And now he punished Merz and Germany," he said.

"If you want to be a good partner and you want to have good relationships, and if you want to stay together as an alliance, you cannot talk like like the president does right now."

The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and center-left Social Democrats  (SPD) have approved a coalition agreement, which was negotiated following the election in Rhineland-Palatinate, at their state party conventions.

CDU and SPD plan to announce the cabinet line-up next week. Both parties are also part of the federal coalition government.

The coalition agreement is set to be officially signed in the coming weeks, announced Gordon Schnieder, chairman of the CDU state party.

The state parliament is expected to elect him as the new head of government on 18 May, Rhineland-Palatinate's Constitution Day.

The agreement would mark the end of 35 years of SPD-led governments in the state and the first-ever coalition between the two parties in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The new coalition would hold a two-thirds majority in the state parliament, giving it the power to amend the constitution. The CDU won 39 seats, ahead of the SPD with 32.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party became the largest opposition party, gaining 24 seats, while the environmentalist Greens held 10. 

More than 1.6 million Syrianrefugees have returned home after fleeing to host countries during the civil war, according to figures from the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR.

The data published by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper showed that returnees from Turkey totaled 634,000, from Lebanon 621,000 and from Jordan 284,000.

Returnees from Germany were listed under "Other Countries" in the report, which combined totaled around 6,100.

However, according to German government figures, nearly 3,700 Syrians have returned out of the more than 900,000 currently resident in Germany.

The German government hasrevised its policy on Syrian refugees, stating they no longer need protection. Nevertheless, Berlin has not launched forced repatriation amid a national debate over conditions in the war-ravaged country.

The newspaper cited a statement from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), which said: "The change in the situation in the country of origin must be significant and not merely temporary, but permanent."

This criterion can "only be determined after a certain period of time and once the situation has stabilized," BAMF added.

Opposition parties are calling for Syrian refugees to be allowed to return to their home country temporarily to assess conditions, but under current laws, they risk losing protected status if they do.

Germany also offers up to around €1,000 ($1,170) to adult returnees in financial assistance.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad was ousted on 8 December 2024 after a lightning offensive by rebel forces spearheaded by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The rebels captured Damascus with little resistance, ending more than five decades of Assad family rule. Assad fled the country by plane and was granted asylum in Russia.

Police say that a day of mostly peaceful rallies on May 1 — International Workers' Day — in Berlin was marred by violence in the evening, when leftist demonstrators threw objects at police, causing slight injuries to at least 10 officers.

The police union GdP said, however, that the police had managed keep most potential violence under control during the some 90 rallies and other events held in the capital.

Altogether some 60 arrests were made, it said.

The western city of Essen, in Germany's Ruhr area, also saw "mostly peaceful" demonstrations against a rally held by the far-right party "Die Heimat" ("The Homeland"), with 4,500 people taking part in 15 registered counterprotests, police said.

"Die Heimat," which has been classified as a "certified rightwing extremist" organization by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, has its headquarters in Essen.

More than two-thirds of German residents find that social behavior is on the decline, a survey shows.

Altogether 67% of respondents in the survey by the Forsa polling institute said society in Germany was lacking in cohesion and harmony to a greater or lesser extent, 6 percentage points more than a year before.

Of those, 57% said the situation was "rather bad" and 10% "very bad."

Younger people tended to have a more positive view than older age groups, with just 50% of 18 to 34-year-olds saying the situation was "rather bad" and 6% "very bad." 

Just 3% of respondents found an improvement in social harmony in the last three years, while 77% said things had got worse.

The main problems seen by respondents were more insults and lack of respect (86%), aggressivity (81%), egoism (79%) and intolerance and exclusion (76%), particularly in public and on social media.

The survey was conducted by Forsa for the health insurance company DAK.

"Timmy," a humpback whale that was stranded for weeks in northern Germany, has been set free in the North Sea after an operation funded by two millionaire entrepreneurs.

But it is still by no means sure that he will survive his new-found freedom after his health deteriorated considerably during his ordeal, which was followed closely by German media.

You can read more about "Timmy" and the dangers possibly still facing him in this article:Humpback whale Timmy released in North Sea but risk remains 

 

The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States will withdraw 5,000 troops from NATO ally Germany, following a public spat between US President Donald Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war in Iran. But is that confrontation really why the pullback is happening now? 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the withdrawal of about 5,000 US troops from Germany over the next six to 12 months.

While similar reductions have been threatened before, US bases in Germany remain strategically vital and economically important to some regions.

Find out where the 35,000 to 39,000 US soldiers, plus about 13,000 Air Force personnel, are currently stationed across Germany.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said the pullout of troops from Germany announced by the Pentagon on Friday had been expected and that Europe has to do more for its own defense.

"That US troops are withdrawing from Europe and also from Germany was to be expected," Pistorius said.

"We Europeans must take on ‌more responsibility for our own security," Pistorius said, adding, "Germany is on the right track" ‌with the measures it has introduced to expand its armed forces, speed up military procurement and build infrastructure. b 

The Pentagon ⁠said that US would withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany amid a growing rift with Berlin.

Among other things, US President Donald Trump has expressed anger at a remark made on Monday by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Iran was "humiliating" Washington at the negotiating table.

Trump has accused Germany and Europe of doing too little to help the US in its war against Iran, which it says aims to stop Tehran obtaining nuclear weapons.

The US has announced it will pull out several thousand troops from Germany amid growing differences between Berlin and Washington on several issues.

Many observers say that the announced US withdrawal of troops from Germany goes against Washington's own military interests, as the bases in Europe have served to support American military actions taking place well beyond US borders.

However, the Pentagon decision also means that a long-range ​fires battalion that was due to be deployed later this year will be canceled, dealing a blow to Berlin's hopes that it would provide deterrence against Russia until Europe develops its own long-range missiles.

You can read more about the rift that led to the Pentagon's announcement and the reaction from Germany and Europe in this article: US to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany.

The DW newsroom in Bonn wishes guten Tag to all those using the services of Germany's international news service. 

You join us as the Pentagon has just announced that thousands of US troops will be departing Germany amid a diplomatic spat between Washington and Berlin.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has downplayed the effects of the planned move, saying it was "expected," but we will be looking into what it means for Germany and Europe.

And you can also read the latest on a story that has been hitting the headlines in Germany and abroad over the past few weeks: "Timmy," a humpback whale that was stranded in northern Germany for weeks, is now swimming free in the North Sea.

Police have also given their assessment of rallies held on May 1, or International Workers’ Day.

You can read more about these and other stories in our blog on Saturday, May 2.