NATO Chief Alexus Grynkewich Says Trump Will Withdraw 5,000 US Troops From Germany Over Years

NATO’s top commander, U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, said Tuesday that the United States will take "several years" to withdraw its troops from Europe after Donald Trump announced a decision to pull about 5,000 troops out of Germany.

“The US will take years to withdraw its troops from Europe, NATO top commander Alexus Grynkewich said Tuesday”

DW

Grynkewich told reporters after a meeting of NATO military chiefs at the military alliance's headquarters in Brussels that "I can't really give you an exact timeline; it's going to be an ongoing process for several years."

DW

DW reported that the move also followed Trump’s cancellation of the deployment of long-range Tomahawk missiles, and it said Grynkewich stressed the withdrawal would be coordinated with European allies strengthening their own defense capabilities.

DW added that Grynkewich said the only near-term withdrawal he was aware of was the decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, and it noted the United States currently has some 50,000 troops stationed in Germany.

The same DW account said Trump’s surprise announcement came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested Washington was being "humiliated" in its war with Iran.

POLITICO reported that Grynkewich downplayed further withdrawals, saying Washington would not pull more than 5,000 troops from Europe in the “near term,” and he told POLITICO that "The deployments that we have so far are all that's been announced — it's all that I'm expecting in the near term."

POLITICO said Grynkewich told reporters in Brussels that the "ongoing process" would take “several years,” and it described allies privately pressing him to plug the gap created by Trump’s move to pull thousands of soldiers from Europe.

El Mundo

The POLITICO account said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blindsided Poland by canceling an upcoming deployment of 4,000 rotational troops, and it said NATO’s 32 members tasked Grynkewich with finding European replacements for the soldiers and military equipment.

POLITICO also reported that Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a post on X that "no decision has been made to reduce U.S. military capabilities in Poland," and it said the Pentagon had not publicly spelled out reasons for the drawdown.

It further stated that Grynkewich said "There will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe," while Jennifer Kavanagh of the Defense Priorities think tank said heavy assets such as tanks and Stryker vehicles would be harder to replace in the near term with identical capabilities.

El Mundo said the NATO military chiefs confirmed that Trump will withdraw 5,000 U.S. soldiers from Europe, specifically from Germany, and it quoted SACEUR Alexus Grynkewich saying, "this decision does not affect the ability to execute our regional plans."

“Washington will not pull more than 5,000 troops from Europe in the “near term,” said NATO’s top commander, U”

POLITICO.eu

El Mundo added that the SACEUR’s words also confirm the troops will not stay in another country, and it described a possibility that had been discussed with Poland as a possible destination.

The El Mundo account said Grynkewich did not refer to the long-range missiles that the United States was to deploy on German soil this year, and it said those missiles included Tomahawks and represented a very important deterrent against Russia.

It also reported that Admiral Cavo Dragone ruled out the European army advocated by the government of Pedro Sánchez, saying, "We cannot think of a European army. It is an oxymoron or a nonsense, because NATO does not have its own army."

El Mundo tied the statements to a separate incident in Estonia, saying a NATO aircraft shot down a Ukrainian drone in Estonian airspace and that Romanian F-16s shot down the drone between Võrtsjärv and Põltsamaa, while Kyiv apologized to Estonia after electronic interference redirected Ukrainian drones to Baltic countries.