SPUTNIK
Citing Berlin’s alleged delinquency “in their payments to NATO,” US President Donald Trump declared on Monday that Washington will reduce its military presence in Germany by more than half.
Following a roundtable on “Fighting for America’s Seniors,” the US president announced that US troop deployment in Germany would decrease to 25,000 troops, according to Associated Press White House reporter Zeke Miller.
“Germany as you know is…delinquent in their payments to NATO,” Trump argued on June 15, claiming Germany owes NATO billions. “Why should we be doing what we’re doing if they don’t pay?”
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale noted that the so-called debt refers to the NATO target which urges every member to spend “2% of [its] GDP on defense.”