BERLIN — Germany’s defense minister on Saturday appeared to take in stride a Pentagon announcement that the United States plans to pull some 5,000 troops out of the country, President Trump’s latest attempt to reduce America’s commitment to European security.

Boris Pistorius said the drawdown, which Trump has threatened for years, was expected, and he said European nations needed to take on more responsibility for their own defense. But he also emphasized that security cooperation benefited both sides of the transatlantic partnership.

“The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the U.S.,” Pistorius told the German news agency DPA.

The planned withdrawal faced bipartisan resistance in Washington, with swift criticism from Democrats and concern from Republicans that it would send the “wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose full-scale invasion of Ukraine is into its fifth year.

Trump’s decision came days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz bluntly criticized U.S. strategy in its war on Iran.

The U.S. president has been seething at European allies over their unwillingness to join the war, which the U.S. and Israel launched without consulting them. He has lashed out at Merz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other leaders.

Merz on Monday said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s war strategy.

Meanwhile, Trump accused the European Union of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.

At least one EU lawmaker called the tariff hike “unacceptable” and accused Trump of breaking another U.S. commitment on trade.

U.S. troop presence

A pullout of 5,000 soldiers from Germany would amount to about one-seventh of the 36,000 American service members stationed in the country. The Pentagon offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected.

The withdrawal is scheduled to take place over the next six to 12 months. Trump had said during his first term he would pull 9,500 troops from Germany, but he didn’t start the process and President Biden formally stopped it soon after taking office in 2021.

More broadly, around 80,000-100,000 U.S. personnel are usually stationed in Europe — depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations. The U.S. increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. NATO allies including Germany have expected for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave.

Pistorius, in his comments to DPA, said, “We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our security,” while stressing recent efforts by Germany to boost its armed forces, accelerate procurement and develop infrastructure.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization spokesperson Allison Hart, in a post Saturday on X, said the transatlantic alliance was “working with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”

“This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defense and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security,” she added, noting “progress” toward a target among NATO allies to each invest 5% of their economic output to defense.

Pentagon’s explanation

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”

A U.S. Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the branches of the U.S. military didn’t have prior knowledge of the decision to withdraw the 5,000 troops and learned about it “in real time.”

Most U.S troops in Germany are from the Army and Air Force.

Germany hosts several American military facilities, including the headquarters of the U.S. European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. U.S. nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.

Withdrawal of 5,000 troops — the size of a brigade combat team — from Germany would probably have limited effect on combat power, but “in terms of messaging of U.S. commitment, though, it’s very different,” another Pentagon official said.

The only permanent brigade combat team in Germany is the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, alongside an aviation brigade and other assets, which is considered to have an important role in America’s — and NATO’s — ability to deter threats.

Republican leaders voice concern

After swift criticism from Democrats on Friday, Republican leaders of both Armed Services Committees in Congress said Saturday they were “very concerned” about the troop withdrawal.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama said the decision risked “undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.”

They also said the Pentagon had decided to cancel the planned deployment of the Army’s Long-Range Fires Battalion, which oversees Tomahawk, hypersonic and other long-range missile defenses. Parnell’s statement made no mention of that.

Wicker and Rogers said any significant change to the U.S. force posture in Europe warrants review and coordination with Congress.

“We expect the Department to engage with its oversight committees in the days and weeks ahead on this decision and its implications for U.S. deterrence and trans-Atlantic security,” they said in a joint statement.

They also noted that Germany has heeded Trump’s call to shoulder more of the burden of defense spending in Europe, while giving U.S. forces access to its bases and airspace in the war against Iran.

Trump has mused for years about reducing the American military presence in Germany, and has continued to rail against NATO for its refusal to assist Washington in the war, which began on Feb. 28 with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

American allies in NATO have braced for a U.S. troop withdrawal since Trump took office, with Washington warning that Europe would have to look after its own security, including that of Ukraine, in the future.

Grieshaber and Burrows write for the Associated Press and reported from Berlin and London, respectively. AP writers Ben Finley in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report.