The Pentagon explained the withdrawal of part of the troops from Germany as punishment for the position on Iran

US military officials have privately made it clear that the decision to withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany is a punishment for Berlin's position on Iran. This was reported by The New York Times (NYT) newspaper, citing American military officials.

According to them, Germany's unwillingness to help the United States in conducting military operations against Iran has displeased Washington. Although the Pentagon had previously considered the possibility of reducing its military presence in Germany, this step was nevertheless justified by the desire to punish Germany for criticizing the United States, American military officials acknowledged.

The authors of the material emphasized that before that, the prevailing opinion among German politicians was that US President Donald Trump was most likely bluffing by threatening to redeploy troops. He had already tried, unsuccessfully, to withdraw some of the 35,000 American troops from Germany at the end of his first term as president. He will now need congressional approval to withdraw troops from Europe.

Trump is withdrawing American troops from Germany. What the media is writing

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on German television on April 27 that the Iranian authorities were "humiliating" the United States, and Washington was failing to find a solution to the Middle East conflict. He accused Washington of lacking a strategy and clarified that he himself did not have an understanding of how the United States intended to get out of the conflict.

On April 30, Trump, in a social media post, advised Merz to focus on the Ukrainian conflict and rebuilding his "destroyed country" instead of criticizing the conflict in the Middle East. The head of the White House noted that Germany has big problems in the field of immigration and energy.

On May 2, the Reuters news agency, citing the Pentagon, reported that the United States would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany within 6-12 months. Politico newspaper later reported that the latest US actions confirm Trump's desire to "punish Europe."