European Leaders Anxious as Trump May Pull 20K Troops from Continent

European leaders are on edge as their transatlantic relationship faces another chill under President Donald Trump, who resumed office this year. The possibility of Trump pulling back 20,000 U.S. troops from Europe has left the continent feeling vulnerable and scrambling for answers.

Camille Grand, a former NATO official and current member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, pointed out the glaring issue: "The Europeans have a serious problem of readiness … that they’re trying to fix, but it takes time." Grand added that if Trump decides to withdraw troops over grievances like trade imbalances, it would be far more complicated to address than a planned adjustment over several years. Translation? Europe’s not exactly ready for a sudden military breakup.

Trump’s perceived coziness with Moscow isn’t helping the nerves in Brussels either. European leaders widely expect that the 20,000 troops sent to their shores by former President Joe Biden after Russia’s Ukraine invasion could soon be heading back stateside. A NATO diplomat bluntly admitted the possibility, saying, "I would not be surprised if at some point [those troops] go back to their home base in America." The diplomat even tried to put a positive spin on the potential withdrawal, describing it as a "return to normalcy." Normalcy? That must be a comforting word for Europe’s already frayed nerves.

Since 2022, the number of U.S. troops in Europe has fluctuated between 75,000 and 105,000, with the surge largely attributed to Biden’s response to Russian aggression. But officials now fret that those numbers could drop faster than anticipated. Trump administration representatives are reassuring allies that no massive troop reductions are imminent, though recent remarks by Vice President JD Vance have only fueled the anxiety. Vance, attending a security conference in Munich, criticized European leaders for allegedly straying from shared democratic values like freedom of speech. Toss in Trump’s ongoing spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and, well, things aren’t exactly sunshine and rainbows.

It’s worth noting that U.S. presidents from both parties have warned Europe for over a decade about a potential pivot in military focus toward the Indo-Pacific to counter China. The message has been clear: Europe needs to shoulder more of its own defense responsibilities. The U.S. troop presence in Europe has already shrunk significantly since the Cold War. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, nearly 500,000 American troops were stationed in Europe. By the 1990s, that number was down to 350,000, and today it hovers at roughly 100,000.

Despite these long-standing warnings, European leaders fear Trump’s unpredictability could accelerate troop withdrawals, leaving them scrambling to fill the gaps. Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British diplomat, captured the sentiment perfectly: "I just worry that, given, frankly, President Trump’s mercurial nature … how much confidence really can Europe have in any degree of American protection and defense?" It’s a fair question, and one that keeps many in European capitals awake at night.