From left, Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte, Ukraine's Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov, Germany's Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and Britain's Secretary of Defense John Healey meet at the Ukraine Contact Group meeting in front of the Federal Ministry of Defense in Berlin, April 15. dpa-Yonhap

BERLIN — Germany's defense minister on Saturday appeared to take in stride a Pentagon announcement that the United States plans to pull some 5,000 troops out of the country, President Donald Trump's latest attempt to reduce America's commitment to European security.

Boris Pistorius said the drawdown, which Trump has threatened for years, was expected, and he said European nations needed to take on more responsibility for their own defense. But he also emphasized that security cooperation benefited both sides of the trans-Atlantic partnership.

“The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the U.S.,” Pistorius told the German news agency dpa.

The planned withdrawal faced bipartisan resistance in Washington, with swift criticism from Democrats and concern from Republicans that it would send the “wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose full=scale invasion of Ukraine recently entered its fifth year.

Trump's decision comes as he seethes at European allies over their unwillingness to join his campaign with Israel against Iran. He has lashed out at leaders like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz , Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Merz last week criticized the war in Iran, saying the U.S. is being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and calling out Washington’s lack of strategy.

In another sign of friction, Trump accused the European Union of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25 percent, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.

At least one EU lawmaker called the tariff hike “unacceptable” and accused Trump of breaking yet another U.S. commitment on trade.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz talks to soldiers during a lunch on the occasion of his visit to the army at the Bundeswehr base in Munster, Germany, April, 30. AP-Yonhap

Source: Korea Times News