{"id":2599784,"date":"2026-05-07T08:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-plan-to-pull-u-s-troops-from-europe-is-good-for-everyone-and-america-most-of-all\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T08:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:23:28","slug":"trumps-plan-to-pull-u-s-troops-from-europe-is-good-for-everyone-and-america-most-of-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-plan-to-pull-u-s-troops-from-europe-is-good-for-everyone-and-america-most-of-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Pulling Troops From Germany Is Putting America First"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrumps-plan-to-pull-u-s-troops-from-europe-is-good-for-everyone-and-america-most-of-all%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2599784&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article argues that President Trump\u2019s declaration to withdraw about 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany is justified, and that critics-especially prominent congressional Republicans and Democrats-are wrong to claim it would weaken deterrence or send the wrong message to Russia.<\/p>\n<p>It maintains that Europe no longer faces a plausible hegemonic threat that would require a permanent American \u201cpacifier\u201d role, pointing out that the U.K. and France have nuclear weapons, Germany cannot easily expand against neighbors, and a Russia that has not overcome Ukraine is depicted as incapable of conquering Europe.<\/p>\n<p>The piece rejects several rationales for sustaining U.S. military dominance in Europe, including the idea that forward presence prevents major war, and the push for shifting U.S. forces toward Central\/Eastern \u201ccivilizational\u201d allies to create urgency. Instead, it emphasizes that U.S. interests in Europe are limited and that Europe should be encouraged to stand on its own, consistent with the stated direction of the 2025 National Security Strategy.<\/p>\n<p>the author also argues that removing troops from Germany could be strategically beneficial: it would pressure richer European states to assume more of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-look-at-natos-hard-road-ahead\/\" title=\"A Look at NATO\u2019s Hard Road Ahead\">defense burdens<\/a>, either by accelerating rearmament or by <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >forming local balancing coalitions<\/a>. it claims U.S. bases in Germany primarily serve to facilitate american intervention in the Middle East, and argues the U.S. should not be \u201clubricating\u201d such <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nearly-90-retired-generals-admirals-demand-milley-austin-resign-focused-on-wokeness-vs-winning-wars\/\" title=\"Nearly 90 Retired Generals, Admirals Demand Milley, Austin Resign: Focused On \u2018Wokeness\u2019 Vs. Winning ...s\">power projection<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>it concludes that keeping Germany protected does not require American forces stationed there, and that Trump should follow through to truly put \u201cAmerica first.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Trump shocked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/europe-and-east-asia-all-part-of-the-same-theater-for-america\/\" title=\"... and East Asia: All Part of the Same ...Theater\u201d for America?\">foreign-policy establishment<\/a> with an announcement late Friday that the United States would be withdrawing roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany. <\/p>\n<p>Predictably, Washington\u2019s Europe-Firsters snapped for their fainting couches. Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, respectively, pronounced themselves \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wicker.senate.gov\/2026\/5\/chairmen-of-the-senate-and-house-armed-services-committees-release-statement-on-u-s-troop-withdrawal-from-germany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">very concerned<\/a>\u201d by the move, fretting that it \u201crisks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Trump is right to withdraw troops from Germany and from Europe. Neocon Republicans and Democrats are wrong. There is already a template for a rapid withdrawal from Europe: the one that took place after the end of the Cold War \u2014 incidentally, also the last era when the U.S. had a balanced budget. Our only criticism is that Trump\u2019s current withdrawal numbers don\u2019t go far enough. (In fairness, the president <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/5861129-trump-threatens-troop-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promised<\/a> on Saturday that he is \u201cgoing to cut way down. And we\u2019re cutting a lot further than 5,000.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>There is one argument for maintaining U.S. dominance of European security that could hold water: the idea that doing so prevents World War III. As the German scholar Josef Joffe posed it, the U.S. presence serves as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/1148355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pacifier<\/a>\u201d for Europe, which without it would otherwise drift back to security competition or war.<\/p>\n<p>This view is dated and fails to recognize how profoundly Europe has changed. The United Kingdom and France have nuclear weapons, which they would use to defend themselves if needed. The Bundeswehr does not have anywhere near the size to expand into its wealthy neighbors. And a Russia that cannot defeat Ukraine cannot expand into Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the realist argument above, there are two other arguments for trying to sustain U.S. military dominance in Europe. The first is for continuous forward presence and primacy to deter any plausible threat to any NATO member-state.\u00a0 The second is for \u201ccivilizational\u201d allies, and advocates moving troops into the \u201chealthier\u201d countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Both are flawed, and President Trump should reject them.<\/p>\n<p>As the National Security Strategy 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">correctly states,<\/a> \u201cOur elites badly miscalculated America\u2019s willingness to shoulder forever global burdens to which the American people saw no connection to the national interest. \u2026 The days of the United States propping up the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-super-creep-klaus-schwab-even-at-the-g-20-summit\/\" title=\"Why Is Super Creep Klaus Schwab Even At The G-20 Summit?\">entire world order<\/a> like Atlas are over.\u201d The NSS accordingly calls for enabling and encouraging Europe to stand on its own feet, ending the perception and practice of a growing NATO, and ensuring fair trade from European partners. None of that necessitates a constant American forward presence. <\/p>\n<p>There is also an argument to move troops out of Germany and closer to the Russian border, to be placed in \u201ccivilizational\u201d allies and countries. That would also be counterproductive. To incentivize Germany and other rich Western European states to take more of the burden of European defense, Trump should pull American troops out of the continent. Moving them further toward their main threat will do little to create a sense of urgency. <\/p>\n<p>The core interests of the United States in Europe are limited. Washington\u2019s chief strategic aim for more than 100 years has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/europe\/post-american-europe-justin-logan-joshua-shifrinson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to ensure a disunited Europe<\/a>. The United States did not want a single power bloc led by Imperial Germany, Nazi Germany, or the Soviet Union to dominate Europe politically and economically. As Hans Morgenthau explained in 1950: \u201cWe have conceived the two wars which we fought essentially as two holy crusades, engaged in by a good people against an evil one. It so happened, that what was really at stake in those crusades was not at all the extirpation of evil of its own sake, but the restoration of the balance of power in Europe.\u201d There is no hegemonic threat to Europe on the horizon today. The European Union is an economic rival, at most. <\/p>\n<p>What this means is that keeping European power divided entails keeping the major European states, such as Russia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, divided. A U.S. absence will incentivize a natural equilibrium and regional blocs coalescing within Europe. Stronger sovereigntist and centrifugal forces within Europe will also likely emerge. <\/p>\n<p>Under the current policy, the United States acts as an unnatural glue that keeps the European Union protected beneath massive American defense subsidies. As history shows, the threat of even partial U.S. withdrawal either pushes European states to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/commentary\/trackers-and-data-visualizations\/nato-defense-spending-tracker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rearm rapidly<\/a>, as in the cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonmonthly.com\/2026\/01\/07\/germany-rearmament-bundeswehr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Germany<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/world\/europe\/article\/poland-defence-minister-interview-5sh0x9cbl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Poland<\/a> at present, or produces local balancing coalitions, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/jfcbs.nato.int\/page5964943\/2025\/fortifying-natos-northeastern-flank-the-strategic-role-of-germanys-45th-armoured-brigade-in-lithuania\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">German brigade in Lithuania<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkiyetoday.com\/nation\/french-troop-deployment-to-greek-cyprus-risks-disrupting-delicate-balance-turkiye-3219114\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Greco-French<\/a> military alliance. As a Politico Europe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/donald-trump-nato-policy-defense-plans-europe-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headline<\/a> blared in December, \u201cTrump\u2019s attacks force Europe to speed up post-America defense plans.\u201d Wonderful. Trump should keep going.<\/p>\n<p>Critics of withdrawing U.S. troops from Germany further argue that the U.S. presence there makes U.S. intervention in the Middle East easier, so Americans should want to keep it. For example, the statement of the Senate and House Armed Services Committee chairmen protests that U.S. bases in Germany provide \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wicker.senate.gov\/2026\/5\/chairmen-of-the-senate-and-house-armed-services-committees-release-statement-on-u-s-troop-withdrawal-from-germany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seamless access, basing, and overflight for U.S. forces<\/a>\u201d conducting the current U.S. war in Iran. But the United States should not be lubricating power projection into the Middle East. If starting U.S. wars in the Middle East became a bit harder as a result of having fewer troops in Germany, this should be viewed as a feature, not a bug.<\/p>\n<p>German and broader European security do not require American power theater. According to Europeans, the main threat they face is from Moscow. But a Russia that cannot defeat Ukraine cannot threaten Germany, much less conquer and pacify a continent with four times its population. Russian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/gdp\/gdp-by-country\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GDP is only<\/a> three times Poland\u2019s, or slightly less than Italy and Portugal\u2019s combined. Russia is not a plausible European hegemon and will not be one in the policy-relevant future. Accordingly, keeping Germany free from Russian aggression does not require U.S. troops inside its borders. Encouraging Germany to rapidly rearm and balance Russia, as President Trump is currently doing, is the right approach. <\/p>\n<p>Trump has worried about allied burden-shifting for decades. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1987\/09\/02\/nyregion\/trump-gives-a-vague-hint-of-candidacy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1987 ad in The New York Times<\/a>, he admonished American politicians to \u201cstop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves.\u201d His instinct was right then, and he is still right. Removing U.S. forces from Germany is a move that truly puts America first. The president should ignore his critics and follow through on his promise.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Justin Logan is director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. Sumantra Maitra is an elected fellow at the Royal Historical Society, London.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump plans to withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany, alarming Europe-first Republicans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4277,"featured_media":2599785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Trump-Bilateral-Meeting.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[34041,3946,50611,78891,12314],"class_list":["post-2599784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-america-first","tag-germany","tag-national-security-2","tag-troop-withdrawal","tag-u-s-military"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Trump-Bilateral-Meeting.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599784"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2599788,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599784\/revisions\/2599788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}