Trump says he's pulling U.S. troops from Germany. Does it matter?

Trump is once again threatening NATO allies. What would a reduction of U.S. troops in Germany mean for security and the U.S. military? Today, about 36,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, and they’re a key part of the U.S. military ecosystem and the NATO alliance. Now, President Trump plans to reduce that number. Trump has grown increasingly and publicly frustrated with NATO allies. This time he’s taking it out on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran. Among the many questions raised by this: What are U.S. troops doing in Germany anyway? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at considerthis@npr.org . This episode was produced by Fio Geiran, Tyler Bartlam and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Sarah Handel and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

You can listen to Trump says he's pulling U.S. troops from Germany. Does it matter? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Trump says he's pulling U.S. troops from Germany. Does it matter? is an episode from Consider This from NPR by NPR.

This episode is 11:25 long.

This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Consider This from NPR when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.