NATO's top military officer stated on Tuesday that he does not anticipate any additional reductions of American troops in Europe in the near future, beyond the 5,000 service members that U.S. President Donald Trump announced would be withdrawn from the continent.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, who serves as the director of NATO's military staff, made the remarks following Trump's unexpected announcement earlier this month. The U.S. president has been at odds with allies over the Iran conflict and has called for strategic changes. The Pentagon later clarified that the drawdown would involve canceling deployments to Poland and Germany rather than removing troops already stationed there. Trump's decision caught NATO off guard, despite previous U.S. commitments to coordinate military moves with allies and avoid creating security gaps.
"It will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe," Grynkewich told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where senior military officers from the 32-nation alliance were convening. "It's all that I'm expecting in the near term."
Trump had expressed particular frustration with Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz remarked that the United States was being "humiliated" by Iranian leadership and criticized what he described as a lack of U.S. strategy in the war. Initially, there were concerns that further cuts might be implemented, but Grynkewich's comments appear to alleviate those fears.
As currently planned, approximately 4,000 troops from the Army's 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team will no longer deploy to Poland as scheduled, and the deployment of around 1,000 personnel trained to operate long-range rockets and missiles to Germany has been halted. Many details are still being finalized.
Grynkewich mentioned that earlier in the day, he had spoken with military commanders from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland—nations on the front line with Ukraine and Russia—about "some of the options and how we might array capabilities on the eastern flank." He emphasized that European security would not be compromised but cautioned allies to expect further troop reductions in the coming years.
"Over the long term, we absolutely should expect additional redeployments as Europe continues to build capability and capacity and step up to provide more of the conventional defense of Europe," Grynkewich said. "It's going to be an ongoing process for several years," he added, but assured that "we're going to stay well-synchronized with our allies moving forward."
The number of troops being withdrawn remains small relative to the estimated 80,000 U.S. personnel stationed in Europe, and it has not caused alarm among allies. However, the lack of coordination in the withdrawal and the perception that Germany is being penalized have raised concerns.
