US President Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of closing American military bases in Europe, including Ramstein air base in western Germany, as leverage against allies unwilling to back his administration's military campaign in Iran. Ramstein (the largest US military installation outside American soil, hosting around 53,000 Americans across a 15 km² self-contained community) has seen a sharp rise in air traffic since the start of the Iran conflict, and its adjacent Landstuhl military hospital is currently treating US combat casualties, reportedly including a pilot recently evacuated from Iran. Analysts note that relocating Ramstein would be extraordinarily costly for Washington, suggesting that Berlin may hold more leverage than it appears — though German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has so far avoided direct confrontation with Trump and, unlike France, Spain, and Italy, has not moved to restrict US overflights of German territory en route to Iran.