US running out of patience over European troop reduction
NBC News reported in April that the US is considering withdrawing up to 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe. US President Donald Trump later confirmed that he is considering a partial pullout, but did not provide a timetable. Whitaker has now said discussions will take place later this year.
'It will be certainly after the summit, sometime later in the year, we are going to start those conversations... All our allies are ready to do it,' he told Reuters on Friday, referring to the bloc's upcoming summit in The Hague.
'We are not going to have any more patience for foot dragging in this situation... We just need to work through the practical consequences,' Whitaker said, adding that 'nothing has been determined' yet. 'But as soon as we do, we are going to have these conversations in the structure of NATO.'
The cost of replacing the US equipment and personnel following the withdrawal could amount to around $1 trillion over 25 years, Politico reported earlier this week, citing a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The sum would include one-off purchase costs ranging from $226 billion to $344 billion, depending on the equipment to be replaced, as well as expenses regarding maintenance, personnel, and support.
The list of military hardware that European NATO members would need to acquire after the pullout could include 400 tactical combat aircraft, 20 destroyers, and 24 long-range surface-to-air missiles, the news outlet said.
As of early 2025, there were nearly 84,000 US troops stationed in Europe, with the largest concentrations in Germany and Poland, and smaller deployments in Romania, Estonia, and Lithuania, according to US European Command.
The US is NATO's largest financial contributor, and Trump has repeatedly criticized the bloc's European members for failing to meet defense spending targets and urged them to take more responsibility for their own defense.
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