Trump's social media post on Wednesday followed comments by Merz that the U.S. was being "humiliated" by Tehran as it slow-walks its diplomacy over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
Germany hosts several U.S. military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from U.S. wars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq are treated. U.S. nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.
Ed Arnold, an expert in European security at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the U.S. gets a lot out of its presence in Germany — like logistics and support for Middle East combat operations — and was unlikely to withdraw.
Trump’s post is most likely “bluster,” he said.
“There is a difference between the military view and the political view,” Arnold said. “The issue with some of these threats is that they are not quite as galling as they were a couple of years ago.”
NATO and the German government did not immediately comment.
