US Withdraws Troops from Germany
In response to Trump’s insistence, US defense officials have announced the withdrawal of US troops in Germany. Around 6,400 troops will return home, while 5,600 will be deployed to various European countries, which will take years and cost billions to complete. Trump has maintained Germany’s failure to pay enough for defense. The move will keep around 24,000 troops in Germany, while some forces will relocate to Italy. If successful, the European US Command headquarters will relocate from Stuttgart to Belgium. The shift also aims to accomplish strategic determent of Russia, by moving forces into the Baltic and Black Sea regions. Trump issued a statement saying Germany hasn’t been paying their defense bills and the move may cause them to start. The President has been consistently accusing Germany of failure to meet their financial obligations. Other NATO countries have committed to allocate 2% of their GDP for defense expenditures by 2024, while Germany has come up short by 1.4% of that pledge.
Ann Sullivan is a contributing staff writer covering national and world news topics. She brings dedicated experience having written international and domestic news, blogs, and web content for over 20 years. She’s also a published poet and graphic designer with degrees in Business and Graphic Communications and has been a music distributor, music industry sponsorship sales director and band manager.