Germany troop cuts send wrong signal to Russia, say two top US Republicans

"Prematurely reducing America's forward presence in Europe before those capabilities are fully realised risks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin," the statement said."Rather than withdrawing forces from the continent altogether, it is in America's interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe by moving these 5,000 U.S. forces to the east."The senior Democrat on the House armed services committee, Adam Smith, said the decision was "not grounded in any coherent US national security policy, strategy, or even analysis" but based on "the hurt feelings of a president who is seeking political vengeance".However, Clay Higgins, a Republican on the same committee, appeared to support the administration's move while taking a dig at perceived time-wasting by the upper chamber of Congress."Pulling 5K American troops from the arrogant Germans. Maybe we should send them the Senate," he said on X. "Better match, and western Europe would be so well protected by the League of the Royal Filibuster."Washington's move comes after Trump criticised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for saying the US had been "humiliated" by Iranian negotiators in the ongoing war.Trump has previously accused Germany of being "delinquent" because its military spending was well below Nato's target of 2% of its GDP. That has changed under the governments of former Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Merz, with Germany now projected to spend €105.8bn (£91bn) on defence in 2027. Overall, Germany's defence expenditure is set to reach 3.1% of GDP, taking into account other defence funds including Berlin's aid to Ukraine as it continues to fight against invading Russian troops.In a post on X on Saturday, Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said the alliance was working with the US to understand the details of the troop withdrawal decision, which "underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security". "We're already seeing progress since allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP at the Nato summit in The Hague last year."Getty ImagesMerz (L) and Trump last met in the White House in March before the row eruptedThe latest spat between Trump and Merz was triggered by comments by the German chancellor on Monday to students that "the Americans clearly have no strategy".He added that the "entire nation" was being "humiliated" by Iran.In response, Trump took to his platform Truth Social, saying Merz thought it was "OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon" and "doesn't know what he's talking about".