U.S. to draw down troops in Germany

About 6,400 American soldiers stationed in Germany will come back to the United States over the next several years, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. Another 5,600 will transfer to other European countries. The U.S. European Command headquarters also will pull out of Stuttgart, Germany, leaving 25,000 U.S. military personnel in the country.

Why are U.S. troops leaving? President Donald Trump said in June that until Germany starts paying its dues to NATO, “we’re removing our soldiers, a number of our soldiers.” NATO wants each member to allocate 2 percent of its gross domestic product to defense by 2024. Germany has said it won’t hit that target until 2031. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the relocation will encourage larger strategic goals like deterring Russia and focusing on the Baltic regions farther east.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s analysis of the state of NATO.