By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin praised Germany for hosting American troops on a liaison with his German counterpart on Wednesday, fueling speculation that President Joe Biden could overturn a withdrawal ordered by its predecessor Donald Trump.
Austin plans to conduct a global review of the position of American troops, which would include Trump’s order last year to eventually withdraw about a third of the contingent of 34,000 American troops in Germany.
Trump, declaring that “we no longer want to be fools”, blamed the US’s close ally for failing to meet NATO’s defense spending target and accused him of taking advantage of the United States in trade.
Austin took a different approach.
“Secretary Austin expressed his gratitude to Germany for continuing to serve as a great host to US forces,” the Pentagon said in a statement after Austin’s call to German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
According to Trump’s withdrawal plan, just under 6,000 of the nearly 12,000 American soldiers who have withdrawn from Germany would reposition themselves in the Black Sea region and some could be temporarily sent in waves to the Baltic.
Other forces leaving Germany would move permanently to Italy and the European headquarters of the US armed forces would be transferred from Stuttgart, Germany, to Belgium.
Trump’s withdrawal caught Germany off guard.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Austin assured Kramp-Karrenbauer that whatever the United States does in the future, it will do in consultation with Germany.
While in office, Trump repeatedly attacked Germany. Biden, who took office last week, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday highlighted the need for cooperation on global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pentagon said Austin also spoke with Kramp-Karrenbauer about “the stance of the force in Afghanistan and Iraq and the fight against the evil influence of our common strategic rivals”.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas spoke with new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday and agreed to cooperate on issues such as China and Iran’s nuclear capability, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Germany’s exteriors in a tweet.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Howard Goller)
Originally published