00:00Donald Trump indicated that there will be further significant cuts to U.S. troop presence in Germany
00:06just one day after the Pentagon announced it was withdrawing 5,000 within the next 6 to 12 months.
00:12Why is the U.S. removing troops from Germany?
00:16We're going to cut way down and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000. Thank you very much.
00:22The move escalates a dispute between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz,
00:26who last week criticized the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, stating that Washington had no strategy.
00:33Mertz also said the Iranian leadership is, quote,
00:36humiliating the United States, eliciting an angry response from Trump,
00:41who slammed him as useless in helping end the war in Ukraine.
00:45The U.S. currently maintains over 36,000 active-duty troops in Germany,
00:50which will drop down to 31,000 when the announced soldiers depart.
00:55It's unclear how many more Washington plans to pull back,
00:58but Trump has also suggested that similar cuts are to come in Spain and Italy,
01:02after recent clashes with their leaders, also over the Iran war.
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