Washington– Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump On Wednesday he made a new threat against Germany, his NATO ally, suggesting he may soon reduce the US military presence there as he continues to feud with the United States. Chancellor Friedrich Merz on The American-Israeli war against Iran.
Trump made the threat after Mears He said earlier this week That the United States was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war. Trump has too He repeatedly attacked NATO Because the coalition refused to help the United States in its two-month-old war.
Trump said in a post on social media: “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of forces in Germany, and it has been decided that this will take place within the next short period.”
Merz had said earlier Wednesday that his personal relationship with Trump remained “as good as ever,” but that he “had doubts from the beginning about what started there with the war in Iran.”
During his first term in the White House, Trump It also moved to reduce US forces In Germany because he said the country spent too little on defence.
In June 2020, Trump announced that he would withdraw about 9,500 of the approximately 34,500 US troops then stationed in Germany, but the process never actually began. Democratic President Joe Biden The planned withdrawal was officially halted Shortly after taking office in 2021.
The United States has several major military facilities in the country, including the headquarters of US European Command, US Africa Command, Ramstein Air Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest US hospital outside the United States.
Merz He met Trump at the White House last March. Just days after the United States and Israel began their bombing of Iran. At the time, Merz told Trump that Germany was eager to work with the United States on a strategy when the current Iranian government ended. Merz also expressed concern that a prolonged conflict could cause significant damage to the global economy.
He, like many other European leaders, has grown concerned as the United States and Iran have not yet reached an agreement to reopen the crossing. Strait of HormuzIt is the vital waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil supplies flowed before the start of the war. It has been effectively closed since the conflict began on February 28.
“We are suffering very badly in Germany and Europe from the consequences of, for example, closing the Strait of Hormuz,” Merz said on Wednesday, hours before Trump posted his threat on social media. “In this regard, I urge the resolution of this conflict.”
Merz added that his government has a “good relationship” with the Trump administration.
For his part, Trump could not contain his frustration with Mears.
“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz thinks it is acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he wrote on Tuesday. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump added that it is not surprising “that Germany is performing very poorly, both economically and in other aspects.”
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AP writer Pietro Di Cristofaro reported from Berlin.