Berlin hails Biden’s move to halt U.S. troop cutback

WASHINGTON — President Biden has formally stopped the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany that was ordered last year by the Trump administration but had never actually begun.

Speaking at the State Department on last week, Biden said the troop pullout would be halted until Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin completes a review of America’s troop presence around the globe.

Austin, he said, will ensure that “our military footprint is appropriately aligned with our foreign policy and national security priorities.”

The German government hailed the move, arguing that the presence of the troops is “in our mutual interest.” “The German government welcomes this announcement,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert. “We will remain in contact with the new American administration on its further plans.”

Last year, thenPresident Donald Trump announced that he was going to pull out about 9,500 of the roughly 34,500 U.S. troops that are stationed in Germany. The U.S. has several major military facilities in the country, including Ramstein Air Base, the headquarters for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American hospital outside the United States.

Trump’s order met resistance from Congress as well as from within the military, which has long relied on Germany as a key ally and base of operations. Trump announced the troop cuts after repeatedly accusing Germany of not paying enough for its own defense, calling the longtime NATO ally “delinquent” for failing to spend 2% of its GDP on defense, the alliance benchmark.

The Pentagon began a review, to determine which troops would be redeployed to other locations and which would remain in Germany.

That study has been ongoing, and there have been no reductions or changes to U.S. troop levels since Trump’s announcement.

Austin said the department will conduct a review of the U.S. military footprint around the globe.

“It will inform my advice to the commander in chief about how we best allocate military forces in pursuit of national interests,” Austin said.