President Trump’s interest in reducing the number of U.S. troops deployed to Germany is drawing strong opposition from a key Trump ally, one of the senior Senate Republicans responsible for U.S. policy toward Europe.
“This caught me by surprise,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee for Europe. “I’m certainly doing whatever I can to make sure it never becomes policy,” he told the Washington Examiner in an interview.
Johnson has tried to learn more about the proposal from White House officials, but those efforts have proven unsuccessful. The lack of communication between the president’s team and even congressional allies suggests how the troop reduction, which is expected to affect roughly one-third of the Americans deployed in Germany, involved less deliberation and coordination than United States and allied foreign policy officials would expect in such a decision.
“I really think that our presence throughout the world is mutually beneficial,” Johnson said. “It gives us forward bases and gives us capabilities that, if we weren’t forward positioned, we would not be in as good a position. So, I hope that was just, I guess, a momentary thought and not stated policy.”
The proposal seemed to gain momentum early Thursday, when former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, reportedly an advocate for the reduction prior to his June 1 resignation, described the plan as a fait accompli. “There will still be 25,000 soldiers in Germany, that’s no small number,” he told German media. “No one should be surprised that Donald Trump is pulling troops and bringing them home. There has been a lot of discussion.”
German officials, after an initial delay, received a more ambiguous update. “The German government has been informed that there are considerations in the U.S. administration to reduce the presence of the U.S. armed forces in Germany,” a German government spokeswoman told reporters Wednesday. “As far as we know, there is no final decision yet.”
The leak last week that Trump was considering a plan to remove 9,500 service members and their families came as a shock to allies at home and abroad. “It’s really big — and big in a very negative sense,” a Central European official said. “Those troops in Germany are not there just for the protection of Germany. It’s also for the protection of the whole transatlantic community, including the United States.”
Johnson echoed that sentiment, adding that the unexpected drawdown might increase the likelihood that Russian President Vladimir Putin will launch another attack on a U.S. partner in Europe. “That would be my concern, yeah,” he said.
That unease derives in part from the possibility that the social unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody could make the U.S. appear weaker than normal. It also reflects Johnson’s belief that Putin uses military action to rally public opinion when he faces political pressure over domestic issues.
“This would be a very bad time to be showing anything but strength and resolve throughout the rest of the world,” Johnson said. “You always have to be concerned about Russia when they’re having domestic issues, and they’re having domestic issues with COVID and other things as well, and that is where Putin may be at his most dangerous.”
The unexpected nature of the withdrawal proposal has fueled speculation that Trump is making the move due to irritation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s unwillingness to travel to the U.S. for an in-person G-7 meeting. “It’s entirely possible this is President Trump making a point,” Johnson said, emphasizing that he has “no inside knowledge” about the motivations. “It certainly would fit a pattern of the way President Trump operates.”
If Trump tries to bring the proposal to fruition, he can expect widespread opposition in Congress, Johnson suggested. “I just don’t agree with withdrawing troops unless it’s really laid out, and I understand the strategy, and that hasn’t been the case here,” he said.
