Rubio downplays Germany troop withdrawal plan amid Trump’s threats
By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday downplayed the planned withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany and said President Donald Trump has not made a decision on removing more service members from Europe amid growing cracks in the transatlantic relationship.
Speaking in Rome after meetings with top Italian leaders, Rubio sought to publicly distance the move from Trump’s continued critique of NATO and its members, including Italy, over a perceived lack of support for the US war against Iran.
Still, his argument is not likely to assuage European fears about the reliability of the United States and its commitment to the defensive alliance. Rubio, a longtime NATO proponent, did not foreclose the possibility of further troop reductions in response to the US displeasure with the bloc. Instead, he said Trump had yet to make a decision.
The top US diplomat said the reduction of the troops in Germany, announced by the Pentagon last week, was “already ongoing.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the subject of Trump’s ire over comments on the Iran war, has similarly sought to downplay the move.
“The troops represent less than 14% of our total troop presence there,” Rubio said at a press conference Friday. “That’s already pre-programmed. In fact, all it did take us back to where we were in 2022.”
“There was always a plan to do some shifting within NATO,” he said.
Even if that is the case, European officials have eyed the move with concern for what it could portend moving forward. Trump himself has threatened more cuts to the number of US troops in Germany and European allies have been left in the dark about the president’s decisions. Efforts by the likes of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to stress the work that allies are doing in support of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz have seemingly had little impact on his anger toward the alliance.
Rubio on Friday echoed Trump’s displeasure but said that he hasn’t made a decision on a response.
“If one of the main reasons why the US is in NATO is the ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we can project to other contingencies, and now that’s no longer the case – at least when it comes to some NATO members – that’s a problem and has to be examined,” he said.
“Ultimately, that’s a decision for the president to make. His team and people like myself and others will provide him what those potential options are, but ultimately he’ll have to make that decision. He hasn’t made those decisions yet,” Rubio added.
Rubio, who met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, said they “didn’t discuss any specifics” like a potential US withdrawal from NATO or reduction of troops from Italy. Rubio as a senator cosponsored the law to stop a president from unilaterally withdrawing from the alliance.
A State Department readout of the meeting said they talked about “the importance of continued transatlantic collaboration to address global threats.”
“A frank dialogue,” Meloni said on X, “between allies who defend their own national interests but who both know how precious Western unity is.”
The-CNN-Wire
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