WASHINGTON, May 1. /TASS/. The German government believes that US President Donald Trump’s "policy of crude threats" has "reached its limits," and expects Washington to be more responsible towards its allies, an unnamed German official told Politico.
Commenting on the US leader’s remarks about the possibility of partial US pullout from his country, the official said: "Trump’s policy of crude threats has reached its limits.""His rhetoric has worn thin. Withdrawing US troops from Germany would severely weaken the US itself, and we wonder when the adults in DC plan to step back into the spotlight," he added.
The article says that Trump’s remarks about the possibility of pulling some US troops out of Germany shocked Pentagon and "stunned defense officials," who scrambled to figure out how serious Trump’s announcement was.
Three US military officials told the newspaper that the matter is about "a potential new push to take hundreds, if not thousands, of American troops out of Germany."
The Pentagon "was not expecting it and has not been planning any kind of drawdown," Politico quoted a congressional aide familiar with the situation. "But we have to take him seriously because he was serious about it during his first administration [in 2017-2021]."
The source referred to the withdrawal of 11,900 US servicemen from Germany in 2020.
In turn, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell was quoted as saying that the department "plans for every scenario."
"And we are fully prepared to execute the orders of the commander-in-chief at the time and place of his choosing," Parnell added.
On April 29, Trump signaled that his administration is considering reducing US troop presence in Germany and will soon make a decision on the issue. Taking reporters’ questions the following day, he said that US may revise downward the number of its troops in Italy and Spain as well.