US Will Be Pulling 9,500 Soldiers Out Of Germany Due To Delinquent NATO Payments, Says Trump

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would be cutting down the number of U.S. troops currently deployed in Germany to 25,000 over the latter's failed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commitments.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity has confirmed with Reuters that Trump is indeed planning on curtailing Germany 9,500 of its U.S. soldiers over an accusation that it has been delinquent on its payments to the NATO.

This reverts back to 2014 when all members of the NATO had committed to spending at least 2% of its GDP on defense by 2025. Although, most of the members including Germany were not able to follow through with this commitment, it has reportedly hoped to meet the said target by 2031 instead.

Trump had purportedly spoken to reporters regarding the said matter and has accused Germany of taking advantage of America on trade. He cited that Germany is treating the U.S. "very badly on trade” but has not provided the details on his basis for this accusation.

Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee were shaken by Trump's statement and has urged him to reconsider the said decision. Mac Thornberry who is a member of the said committee remarked that "a weakened U.S. commitment to NATO will encourage Russian aggression and opportunism."

Emily Haber who is the German Ambassador to the United States said that the cooperation between the two nations will remain strong despite the said planned troop cut.

Phil Gordon of the Council on Foreign Relations has written that the reduction 9,500 troops in Germany and Trump's accusation could undermine the allies' faith in NATO and its promise that U.S. defense troops will defend NATO members from Russian invasion.

U.S. troops have been continuously deployed in Germany in a move to deter attempts of Russian invasion. Following the said announcement which was released first by Wall Street Journal on June 5, questions have been raised on whether the President really intended to follow through with the planned troop cut. He has since stated that he would do so unless Berlin changes course.