Trump threatens MAJOR troop drawdown amid public feud with Germany

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:01]President Trump is now threatening to pull US troops out of Germany as NATO nations continue to fall short on helping with Iran. It comes as Iran's supreme leader issues new threats against the United States. Senior White House correspondent Jackie Heinrich joins us now with the latest. Hey Jackie.

[00:00:18]Good morning, Ainsley. More than 1/5 of US active duty troops that are based overseas are based in Germany. And now the president is threatening a drawdown after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over Iran. He posted this, "The United States is studying and reviewing a possible reduction of troops in Germany with a determination to be made over the next short period of time.

[00:00:41]Thank you for your attention to this matter." His frustration bubbled over on Tuesday when he posted, "The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

[00:00:51]He doesn't know what he's talking about.

[00:00:53]If Iran had a nuclear weapon, the whole world would be held hostage. I'm doing something with Iran right now that other nations or presidents should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly both economically and otherwise."

[00:01:06]This was all in response to what Merz said. Merz, in his own words, said this.

[00:01:14]The Americans clearly have no strategy.

[00:01:16]An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian state leadership, especially by these so-called revolutionary guards.

[00:01:23]The Chancellor is trying to smooth things over saying his relationship with President Trump remains good. He's just been clear about his doubts on the war since the beginning. He added that Germany must live up to its leading role militarily in Europe. The president says all this could go away if Iran would cry uncle and agree to end their nuclear program. A written statement from the supreme leader this morning though says Iran is not backing down vowing to protect its nuclear program as a national asset and saying quote, "The only place Americans belong in the Persian Gulf is at the bottom of the waters as the Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran's chokehold." President Trump has softened his tone with other NATO allies like the UK after he met with the royal family, King Charles and Queen Camilla this week. But he's also remained vocal about his angst over Prime Minister Keir Starmer's resistance to helping the US in this war. Today the president's going to be briefed on potential military action plans by the CENTCOM commander, but according to reports he's already expressed a preference for an extended naval blockade saying that it is more effective at degrading Iran's oil revenue and fracturing what's left of the regime. Ainsley.

[00:02:36]>> Okay, thank you Jackie.

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