President Trump’s decision to withdraw thousands of U.S.troops from Germany is a mistake, according to a former commander of allied forces in Europe.
“This would not have been my recommendation to the president of the United States,” retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, the NATO supreme allied commander for Europe from 2013 to 2016, told the Washington Examiner. “We need to be increasing forces in Europe, not decreasing forces.”
Breedlove’s perspective is characteristic of the bipartisan response to Trump’s unexpected decision to withdraw roughly 9,500 U.S. service members from Germany. Congressional Democrats hope to block funding for the decision, while even some members of the president’s administration think it undermines the policies that Trump’s team developed to fortify NATO and defend Trump from allegations that he is weak on Russia.
“Until the withdrawal of troops from Germany, I think I would have said he was a better partner for NATO than Obama had been,” a senior U.S. official said. “You know, NATO has had more exercises, further east, under Trump than under Obama,” the official said. “There’s nothing to be said to simply pulling all those troops out of Germany.”
Trump explained the decision by faulting Germany for spending less than NATO allies have agreed to spend on defense while complaining about Berlin’s trade policies.
“They’ve been delinquent for years, and they owe NATO billions of dollars,” the president said Monday. “Those are well-paid soldiers. They live in Germany. They spend vast amounts of money in Germany. Everywhere around those bases is very prosperous for Germany. So Germany takes, and then, on top it, they treat us very badly on trade.”
American strategists regard the U.S. facilities in Germany as forward-operating bases that support U.S. forces in the Middle East, as well as platforms to defend eastern European allies from a potential Russian attack.
“The administration has made no effort to explain how our country is stronger because of this drawdown decision,” New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Thursday while unveiling a bill to withhold funding for the troop withdrawal. “Because we’re not. This drawdown weakens America and Europe. And Vladimir Putin understands and appreciates that better than anyone.”
Senior House and Senate Republican lawmakers likewise have declared their opposition to the move. State Department officials stress that the details of the order remain unwritten, adding that the U.S. commitment to European security remains firm.
“Any kind of actual planning, I think, has not happened yet,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison said Tuesday. “It will take some time to plan, I think, for the Defense Department for any potential troop movement. But I don’t think anything has been set in concrete yet.”
That uncertainty is one of the downsides of Trump’s approach to the presidency, Breedlove allowed, but it leaves room for a wide range of outcomes.
“Sometimes our White House and our leaders’ tactics, techniques and procedures are a bit rough,” the retired general said. “I have no insight into what he’s trying to accomplish here. And I find the way that this has been rolled out and done, there’s a lot that remains to be seen about this possibility.”
