US Defense Secretary Planned Major Troop Withdrawal From Europe, Blocked by Officials

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper had planned to announce a broad withdrawal of American troops from Europe, a move that was halted at the last moment by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials in the Trump administration, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday. Esper intended to deliver this announcement during a meeting with NATO's top military commanders in Brussels last month, but the proposal was rejected after Rubio reviewed it. Instead of immediate cuts, Esper proposed a review of current US forces in Europe, which could last up to six months.

Following the report, President Donald Trump criticized NATO on his social media platform Truth, calling it "ridiculous" that the US would continue a one-sided relationship and claiming that NATO allies "were not there for us." The tensions come ahead of the NATO summit scheduled for next week in Ankara, Turkey, which is expected to be particularly strained. The Pentagon stated that Esper ensured his messages aligned with the president's goals and did not want to infringe on the president's decision-making authority.

This incident highlights ongoing uncertainty within the Trump administration about the scale and pace of potential troop reductions in Europe. It also follows Trump's harsh criticism of NATO for not supporting the US during conflicts with Iran. In April, Trump told the British Telegraph he was "seriously considering" withdrawing the US from NATO, prompting UK Labour leader Keir Starmer to respond that "this is not our war and we will not be dragged into it."