President Donald Trump has that his administration was reviewing the possible reduction of US troops in Germany, adding that a decision would be made shortly.
“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.
His statement follows his criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday over the war in Iran, a day after Merz said the Iranians were humiliating the United States in talks to end it.
Speaking to students in Marsberg, Merz suggested it was Trump’s team that was being outplayed, despite confident statements from the White House.
“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” he said.
“An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible.”
Trump’s administration has also repeatedly engaged in scathing criticism of many of the NATO members for not assisting in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, including berating some for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth recently dismissed efforts being led by the UK and France to ensure the future security of the waterway as “silly” and said they should have “less fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat”.
He said Europe needed the strait “much more than we do” and that it was “much more their fight than ours”.
Earlier, Mr Trump warned that Iran had “better get smart” about a nuclear deal as he appeared to threaten a return to military action.
The president posted an image of himself brandishing an assault rifle against the backdrop of an exploding hillside with the caption “no more Mr Nice Guy”.
Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear (sic) deal. They better get smart soon!”
The president has justified the US-Israeli offensive, arguing it is aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.
More follows…
