US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration is reviewing a possible reduction of American troops stationed in Germany, escalating a public dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran. "The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The threat emerged after Merz, speaking to university students earlier this week, said that Washington appeared to have "no strategy" in the conflict and that Iran's leadership was effectively "humiliating" the United States by stringing out negotiations without producing results. Trump responded sharply, accusing Merz of thinking it was "OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon" and declaring that it was "no wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise." Merz, for his part, sought to downplay the personal dimension of the clash, telling reporters on Wednesday that his relationship with Trump "remains just as good as before" and stressing the importance of NATO and "transatlantic solidarity" — though he made no direct reference to Trump's troop-cut post.

Germany hosts the largest US military presence in Europe, with more than 36,000 active-duty troops assigned to bases across the country, including the strategically significant Ramstein Air Base near the southwestern city of Kaiserslautern, which also serves as the headquarters for US European Command and US Africa Command. The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center nearby is the largest American military hospital outside the United States. By comparison, the US has around 12,000 troops in Italy and 10,000 in the UK.

This is not the first time Trump has raised the prospect of reducing US forces in Germany. During his first term, he announced plans in 2020 to withdraw roughly 9,500 troops, citing Germany's failure to meet NATO's defence spending target of 2% of GDP. That plan was ultimately blocked by Congress and reversed by President Joe Biden. The context is markedly different now: under the Merz government, Germany's defence spending is projected to reach 3.1% of GDP by next year. Merz also returned from a March visit to Washington saying Trump had personally assured him the US military presence in Germany would be maintained.

The latest tension sits within a broader pattern of Trump's frustration with NATO allies over the war in Iran, which began on 28 February when the US and Israel launched strikes against the country. Trump has repeatedly called the alliance a "paper tiger" and a "one-way street," threatened to withdraw from it, and labelled allies who have declined to contribute naval forces to secure the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway through which roughly 20% of global oil supply had flowed before the conflict effectively closed it — as "cowards." Merz on Wednesday underlined the economic stakes for Europe, saying Germany was "suffering considerably" from the closure of the strait and urging a resolution to the conflict. With European governments increasingly alarmed by both the war's economic fallout and Washington's unpredictable alliance management, the episode highlights a deepening rift at the heart of the Western security architecture.