The Wall Street Journal isn’t a fan of President Donald Trump’s plan to pull nearly 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany.
The Journal’s editorial board called the Pentagon’s plan to remove the troops “far from a stroke of populist genius” and blasted the president's “erratic foreign-policy impulses” the “greatest risk of a second term.”
“It’s a blow to U.S. interests that won’t fulfill the cost-saving objective Mr. Trump claims to be concerned with,” the board penned in an opinion piece about the plan to remove troops from Germany.
As relations between Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel worsened, Trump decided to withdraw the troops.
The plan to do so was shared on Wednesday by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Of the 36,000 troops stationed in Germany, only 24,000 will remain, according to the plan. About 5,600 soldiers will be moved throughout Europe and 6,400 will come back to the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal writes that the “U.S. presence in Germany — along with infrastructure and knowledge built over decades — is strategically located in the geopolitical and economic heart of Europe.”
The board cautions that moving forces south or west is a “retreat that reduces U.S. ability to surge into the theater if Russia makes a military move.”
The piece also points out that indebted countries like Italy or Spain are “unlikely to pay more than wealthy Germany for the U.S. presence.”
The board calls out what happened when the Obama Administration in 2012 and 2013 withdrew U.S. combat brigades from Germany.
“Vladimir Putin responded by invading Ukraine in 2014,” the article states. “Expect the Kremlin to get similar signals from President Trump’s move.”
The Journal says it estimates the withdrawal from Germany could cost between $6-8 billion.
The board sides with Trump’s frustration on “Germany’s failure to meet its Nato defense commitments, its support for Russia’s gas pipeline, and its naivete about China.”
Instead of pulling troops out of the country, the board suggests he could have moved a few thousand U.S. troops to Asia to pressure Berlin.
“Instead he appears to be undermining America’s military position out of pique — moving U.S. forces to punish Germany, though many will go to countries that also aren’t pulling their weight. Oh, and in the middle of an election campaign he’s undermining the case, which he supported with action over three years, that he is tougher than Democrats on Mr. Putin.”
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.