The US president said he might consider reducing the number of US troops stationed in Spain and Italy
US President Donald Trump said he may consider withdrawing some US troops from Italy and Spain, after issuing a similar threat to Germany amid a standoff between European allies over a war with Iran.
Trump threatened earlier this week to reduce the number of US troops in Germany, continuing to mock NATO as a “Paper Tiger” following other member states refusing to support the US and Israeli bombing campaign in the Middle East. On Friday, the Pentagon said it would withdraw 5,000 of the roughly 36,000 service members from Germany.
Asked by a reporter in the Oval Office on Friday if he would consider withdrawing troops from Spain or Italy, Trump replied: “Yeah, maybe. Look, why shouldn’t I?”
“Italy has done nothing for us. And Spain has been terrible, absolutely terrible,” Trump said. “It’s one thing if they said well, or if they said, ‘Okay, we’ll help,’ but the help is a little slow,” he added.
Trump reiterated that he sees NATO as ungrateful for US military assistance to Ukraine. “We helped them with Ukraine. You know, they made a mess out of Ukraine, a big mess,” He said.
Spain denied using a naval base near Cadiz for attacks against Iran and closed its airspace to US planes involved in the campaign. Italy also refused to allow the US to use an air base in Sicily.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has strongly criticized the bombing in Iran. “In my opinion, this war is illegal, it is a big mistake,” he said last month. In a recent op-ed in Le Monde diplomatique, Sanchez condemned again “Unilateral US attempts to create regime change in Venezuela and now Iran – all without even seeking international approval.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said that the war with Iran has increased instability in the Middle East and increased energy prices. He also criticized Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV over his opposition to the conflict as “unacceptable.”
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