NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday sought to ease European allies' concerns over planned US troop withdrawals, stating that the reduction of 4,000 to 5,000 rotational forces will not impact the alliance's defense plans.

Rutte's remarks came after US President Donald Trump threatened to immediately withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany in response to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's criticism of the US-Israeli war in Iran. Experts say such a move is practically impossible and would significantly undermine US power projection, as these troops are primarily forward-deployed for operations in Africa and the Middle East.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have sought to clarify confusion over Trump's threats. Vance said the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland has been delayed, not canceled. Rubio is expected to meet with European NATO members in Sweden this week.

Rutte emphasized that adjustments are inevitable as the US pivots toward Asia, a plan that has been in the works for over a decade. The Pentagon plans to reduce the number of brigades in Europe from four to three, bringing troop levels back to 2021 numbers.

Rutte also addressed expected cuts to US contributions to the NATO force model in a crisis. He noted that talks on this have been ongoing for over a year and are tied to dramatic increases in European defense spending. Rutte called this "normal business" and said it was expected.

Trump has repeatedly accused allies of freeloading and threatened to leave NATO, forcing other member states to increase spending and consider self-defense amid uncertainty over US reliability.

Source: www.dw.com