NATO's future

NATO: Working with the US to understand their decision

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is not surprised by the announcement that the US is withdrawing 5,000 troops from the country.

- We Europeans must start taking greater responsibility for our own security, he says, and claims that Germany is already on the right track.

The US presence in Germany currently includes around 40,000 soldiers. The US decision comes at the same time as harsh criticism from President Donald Trump, who, among other things, believes that Germany should have contributed to the war in Iran.

"We are working with the US to understand their decision," writes a NATO spokesperson on X, according to AFP.

Analysis: Merz has got into trouble - and with him Europe

Trump's announcement that he is withdrawing 5,000 US troops from Germany is creating problems for NATO on both sides of the Atlantic, writes The Independent's Sam Kiley in an analysis.

He points out that the US military's three air bases in Germany are crucial not only for Europe's defense, but also for the US's own military logistics.

"And all members of the alliance, including Americans in uniform, are fighting to keep it together so that it can survive the Trump administration."

In the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Boris Herrmann writes that Trump's decision does not seem to be strategically motivated but is about taking revenge on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's outspokenness about the war in Iran.

"Because the US president governs based on personal sympathies and antipathies that sometimes fluctuate on a minute basis, Merz has got into trouble. And with him both Germany and Europe."

After the spat: US recalls 5,000 soldiers

5,000 US soldiers are to be moved from Germany within the next year, the Pentagon says, according to Reuters.

The announcement comes shortly after Donald Trump, following a spat with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, threatened to reduce the military presence in the country.

The news agency writes that the decision to move soldiers appears to be a response from the American side to Merz's statement that the United States is being humiliated by Iran in the peace negotiations.

Sources tell CBS News that the decision was made because Donald Trump is dissatisfied with how allied countries have reacted to the United States' war with Iran.