Trump announced last month plans to cut the number of US troops in Germany to 25,000, faulting the close US ally for failing to meet NATO's defense spending target and accusing it of taking advantage of America on trade.A senior member of Chancellor Angel Merkel's conservatives has criticised a US decision to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany and move its European headquarters to Belgium.
"Instead of strengthening NATO, the troop withdrawal will weaken the alliance," Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.
"The effectiveness of the US military is not increased but reduced, especially with a view to Russia and ongoing military conflicts in the Middle East," Roettgen added.