Trump’s Plan To Remove 12,000 Troops From Germany Gets Bipartisan Slam

A month ago, President Trump was said to be looking at a troop draw-down of 9,500 according to the Washington Post, a report that seemed to take German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer by surprise, as he told reporters then that Berlin hadn’t yet been informed of any such move.

In the larger reduction, about 6,400 service members will return home, Esper said, while 5,600 will stay within European NATO ally countries.

The move was immediately derided by Democrats, including Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) and Republicans, including frequent Trump critic Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) who called the plan “a grave error,” “a gift to Russia,” and “a slap in the face at a friend and ally when we should instead be drawing closer in our mutual commitment to deter Russian and Chinese aggression.”

Esper said the move will help the U.S. better compete with new threats from Russia and China and will leave 24,000 troops in Germany, where the United States has stationed a significant number of forces since the end of the Cold War, according to Politico.

Asked about the move Wednesday Trump returned to a familiar stance: that our allies are taking advantage of the U.S. by not paying their fair share:”They’re there to protect Europe. They’re there to protect Germany, right? And Germany is supposed to pay for it. Germany’s not paying for it. We don’t want to be the suckers anymore,” Trump told reporters Wednesday morning, according to Politico. “So we’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills. It’s very simple, they’re delinquent.”

Since taking office, Trump has taken to Twitter to accuse Germany of maintaining a trade imbalance and under-contributing to NATO, according to the Post, and withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on combating climate change, which Merkel championed.