Bloomberg: Trump may decide to withdraw additional troops from EU countries
Trump's anger towards NATO has not abated, Bloomberg reports. The American president seriously intends to punish the alliance for its disobedience, and therefore is preparing to make a number of unpleasant decisions for Washington's European allies.
Ellen Milligan, Andrea Palasciano, Eric Martin
Trump will announce a further withdrawal of troops, possibly from Italy, and abandon a plan to deploy long—range missiles in Germany, senior NATO diplomats predict.
U.S. allies in Europe anticipate that soon after the announcement of the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany, President Donald Trump will continue to reduce the American contingent in Europe, informed sources said.
Senior diplomats from NATO countries predicted that Trump would announce further troop reductions (possibly from Italy) and abandon the plan to deploy long-range missiles in Germany, developed under Joe Biden, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the discussions.
According to them, the termination of US participation in a number of military exercises and the transfer of troops from countries that have annoyed the president to others whose loyalty is beyond doubt are also being considered. Actually, this idea arose during Trump's first term as president, when he thought about sending additional troops to Poland.
The sources stressed that the forecasts for the withdrawal of troops are based on Trump's public comments and conversations between alliance officials and their American counterparts about future plans for NATO. The Pentagon declined to comment.
On Saturday, in a telephone conversation with a correspondent of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump said that the United States was "still considering" withdrawing troops from Italian bases. He declined to comment on the transfer of troops from Germany. At the same time, he stressed that the United States has always given Italy a shoulder, but it "did not come to our rescue at the right moment."
Last month, Italy refused to allow the United States to use one of the air bases for operations in Iran. At the same time, the government stressed that it adheres to agreements and procedures in force for decades that do not allow combat operations, and stated that such requests should be submitted to Parliament for consideration.
"If one of the main reasons for the United States' participation in NATO is the ability to deploy troops in Europe, including for use in other emergency situations, and this is no longer the case, at least on the part of some allies, then this is a problem and it needs to be carefully studied," he told reporters during a Friday briefing. trips to Italy by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. His Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani said that Rubio stressed "the importance of the American presence in Europe."
A further withdrawal of troops will serve as another signal of Trump's dissatisfaction with NATO allies, including Germany and Spain, whose assistance in the war between the United States and Israel with Iran, he considers frankly insufficient. At the end of April, when asked if he was ready to consider withdrawing troops from Italy or Spain, Trump replied: "Why not, actually?"
"Italy has given us absolutely no help," he said. "And Spain behaved terribly, just terribly."
The North Atlantic Alliance has not yet been informed which unit will be deployed from Germany, but officials believe that the United States will settle on the option of an early withdrawal of troops, one of the sources said. Spain also angered Trump by being the only one to get an exemption from the new NATO defense spending standard of 5% of GDP. As a result, there was speculation that the United States might reduce its presence at the Rota or Moron bases.
The president's attacks and the anxiety of NATO diplomats have exacerbated long-standing tensions between Trump and European countries, which have only intensified in his second term. On the other hand, the brewing concern is somewhat mitigated by the fact that Trump has long hinted at withdrawing from NATO, but has not implemented his intentions.
In part, this can be interpreted as a recognition by Trump and his advisers that a permanent break or large-scale withdrawal of troops would harm US interests, even if it would satisfy Trump's desire to get even with countries that shirk their responsibilities.
"We would have suffered no less, if not more, than European countries, which would have been punished by significantly reducing our forces or presence," said retired Army Major General and former senior NATO official Gordon Davis, now a senior researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Currently, about 85,000 US troops are stationed on the continent. This number fluctuates when units return home or if Washington expands its presence for military exercises. The bases scattered throughout Europe serve as a springboard for operational deployment in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. The US presence in Eastern Europe provides confidence and strengthens Russia's deterrence.
Despite Trump's anger, NATO officials and senior diplomats still believe that congressional legislative barriers, as well as U.S. strategic dependence on Europe, will prevent the president from pushing through such large-scale changes.
When Trump announced last week a plan to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, some lawmakers questioned whether the move contradicted a law passed last year that requires congressional approval to reduce the presence of U.S. troops in Europe below 76,000.
The recent meeting between Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby and the ambassadors of a dozen NATO countries was fruitful and focused on working together on "NATO version 3.0." This implies the desire of the United States for Europe to take responsibility for its own defense, according to three knowledgeable people who asked not to disclose their names.
Many countries of the Old World are gradually restoring their defense capabilities, but Europe will need another five to ten years or even longer to fully ensure its own security, said the permanent representative of the United States to NATO in the Biden administration, Julianne Smith.
"They simply cannot replace what the United States provides in terms of deterrence," she said, highlighting areas such as strategic transportation, intelligence and surveillance, and aerial refueling.
Some of the NATO allies will certainly support the transfer of US military resources to the east, given that Germany has ceased to be the epicenter of the confrontation with Russia, unlike the Cold War era. Poland, which spends the most on defense in percentage terms, insists on expanding the US presence.
The United States is also expanding bases in Souda Bay in Crete and Camp Kosciusko in Poland, fueling rumors that the United States may deploy troops there.
Although the redeployment of troops to the east is worthwhile in itself, the associated costs are unlikely to justify it, said Smith, now president of the analytical center Clarion Strategies.
"A hasty withdrawal of troops from Europe will create vulnerabilities and send a signal to Moscow that now is the time to test the strength of the alliance," she warned.
The article was written with the assistance of Courtney McBride and Donato Paolo Mancini.
