President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States is reviewing a possible reduction of U.S. troops stationed in Germany, with a decision expected “over the next short period of time.”
The United States had 36,436 active-duty troops stationed in Germany as of December 2025. That was the second-most of any country, with Japan coming first with 54,288 active-duty U.S. troops.
U.S. troops have been in Germany continuously since 1945, when American forces occupied the country after World War II. Germany became the backbone of the U.S. military presence in Europe during the Cold War, but that footprint has since shrunk dramatically. There were an estimated 250,000 U.S. troops in Germany at its peak during the 40-plus year Cold War.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made news recently when he said on April 27 that Iran was “humiliating” the United States, telling students that “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
Merz said Wednesday that he continues to be on good terms with Trump.
“From my perspective, my personal relationship with the U.S. president remains good,” Merz told reporters. “I simply had doubts from the start about what was begun with the war in Iran. That is why I have made that clear.”
Trump has previously spoken about reducing troop strength in Germany.
In June 2020, Trump said he would reduce the troop presence in Germany, arguing the deployment was costly and unfair to American taxpayers.
There were 46,315 total U.S. military personnel, including 34,416 on active duty, in Germany at the time, with Trump describing it as a “tremendous” expense. He criticized Germany for failing to meet NATO’s defense spending benchmark of 2 percent of gross domestic product, saying Berlin had been “delinquent for years” and owed billions in underfunding.
“We’re protecting Germany, and they’re not paying what they’re supposed to pay,” Trump said, adding that the imbalance “doesn’t make sense.”
He also pointed to Germany’s energy ties with Russia, questioning why the United States should defend a country that was simultaneously purchasing large amounts of Russian energy.
Trump said the United States would consider reducing troop levels to about 25,000, roughly half the force at the time, if Germany did not increase its defense spending. He argued that U.S. troops stationed in Germany contribute significantly to the local economy but said the broader financial and strategic arrangement remained unfavorable to the United States.
By December 2021, the number of active-duty personnel in Germany increased slightly to 35,558, with all military personnel increasing to 47,490.