WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday he would cut the number of U.S. troops in Germany to 25,000, faulting the close U.S. ally for failing to meet NATO’s defense spending target and accusing it of taking advantage of America on trade.
FILE PHOTO – U.S. soldier are pictured during an exercise of the U.S. Army’s Global Swift Response 17 Media Day near Hohenfels, Germany, October 9, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
The reduction of about 9,500 troops would be a remarkable rebuke to one of the closest U.S. trading partners and could erode faith in a pillar of postwar European security: that U.S. forces would defend alliance members against Russian aggression.
It was not clear whether Trump’s stated intent, which first emerged in media reports on June 5, would actually come to pass given criticism from some of the president’s fellow Republicans in Congress who have argued a cut would be a gift to Russia.
Speaking to reporters, Trump accused Germany of bein