WASHINGTON — Senior administration officials said discussions of withdrawing U.S. troops from Germany will not be included in next week’s NATO summit, despite reports that President Donald Trump has considered the move.
White House officials have pushed back against those reports for the past week, since a Washington Post piece noted that the Pentagon, at Trump’s request, is analyzing the national security impact and cost savings of a large-scale withdrawal of U.S. forces from Europe.
About 35,000 American troops are currently stationed in Germany, a significant hub for U.S. military operations worldwide. Trump in the past has repeatedly complained about NATO allies not shouldering enough responsibility — financially and personnel-wise — for the alliance’s security operations.
In a press call with reporters on Thursday, U.S. Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison said that those broader cost concerns would be a key point of the upcoming NATO summit, set to start July 11.
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