German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said Iran\u2019s leadership appears to be\u00a0\u201chumiliating\u201d the United States\u00a0in the ongoing conflict, warning that Washington lacks a clear strategy and a viable exit plan<\/p>\n
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that his department has ordered the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops from Germany within the next year, as President Donald Trump engages in a \u201cWe expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months,\u201d Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision follows a thorough review of the Department\u2019s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground,\u201d Parnell added.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADWhat did Merz say?<\/p>\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said Iran\u2019s leadership appears to be\u00a0 Speaking to students in the town of Marsberg, Merz said the situation reflects deeper strategic issues for the US, drawing parallels with past military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq. He noted that conflicts are not only about entering but also about finding a way out, something he said has proven difficult for Washington in the past.<\/p>\n Merz observed that Iran has emerged stronger than expected and is negotiating \u201cvery skilfully\u201d, while the US has yet to present a convincing approach. He added that the Iranian leadership, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, appears to be gaining the upper hand.<\/p>\n What has Trump said?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, replying to Merz, Trump said the\u00a0German leader, saying he\u00a0 In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused Merz of taking a misguided stance on Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions and defended his own approach to the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it\u2019s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage. I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago,” the president wrote.<\/p>\n Trump threatens to pull troops from Italy, Spain<\/p>\n Trump now appears determined to punish allies who have failed to back the war or contribute to a peacekeeping force in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Tehran\u2019s forces have effectively closed.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Trump said he may pull US troops from Italy and Spain due to their opposition to the war, telling reporters in the Oval Office: \u201cItaly has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, probably, I probably will. Why shouldn\u2019t I?\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n With inputs from agencies<\/p>\n First Published: Home<\/a>World<\/a>US orders withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany after differences over Iran warEnd of Article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said Iran\u2019s leadership appears to be\u00a0\u201chumiliating\u201d the United States\u00a0in the ongoing conflict,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,478,9047,7817,9048,8574,8987],"class_list":{"0":"post-9546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-germany","9":"tag-nato","10":"tag-us-germany","11":"tag-us-nato","12":"tag-us-to-withdraw-troops-from-germany","13":"tag-us-troops-in-germany","14":"tag-us-withdraws-troops-from-germany"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\npublic spat<\/a> with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.<\/p>\n
\n\u201chumiliating\u201d the United States<\/a>\u00a0in the ongoing conflict, warning that Washington lacks a clear strategy and a viable exit plan.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cdoesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMay 02, 2026, 08:35 IST<\/p>\n