Pentagon officials revealed Friday that 5,000 US troops will be pulled out of Germany amid the rift between Berlin and President Trump over the Iran war. 

“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. 

“This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground,” he added. 

Describing recent German rhetoric about the war as “inappropriate ⁠and unhelpful,” a senior Pentagon official told Reuters “the president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks.”

The withdrawal is expected to be completed over the next 6-12 months.

About 35,000 active duty US military personnel are stationed in Germany, which is home to Ramstein Air Base, the largest US military outpost in Europe.

On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz argued the US had been “humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”

“The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” Merz said.

Meanwhile, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has described the Iran war as a “disastrous mistake,” accusing the US of violating international law.

In response to Merz’s criticism, Trump fumed on Truth Social that the chancellor “should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!), and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place!” 

In 2020, Trump ordered the withdrawal of about 12,000 troops from the country but congressional lawmakers resisted funding the exit and the plan was scrapped when former President Joe Biden took office. 

Trump teased the potential for the latest troop reduction earlier this week.  

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. 

The president has also suggested that US troops could be moved out of Italy and Spain. 

“Why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible. Absolutely horrible,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday.

“We helped them with Ukraine… but when we needed them, they were not there. We have to remember that.”