Staunch GOP allies blast Trump’s retaliatory troop withdrawal in rare dissent

Two Southern Republicans are speaking out against President Donald Trump’s recent proclamation to redeploy 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany.

Punchbowl News reporter Anthony Adragna posted on social media that Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) — both Armed Services GOP chairs — deeply oppose the removal.

Trump announced the move in retaliation after he was angered by criticism from the German chancellor over his deeply unpopular war with Iran. NBC News reports Trump “has been threatening” Germany and other NATO allies for their refusal to engage in the U.S. and Israel war on Iran.

“The Europeans have not stepped up when America needed them,” a Trump official said. “This cannot be a one-way street.”

But Wicker and Rogers say Germany “has stepped up in response to President Donald Trump’s call for greater burden sharing, significantly increasing defense spending and providing seamless access, basing and overflight for U.S. forces in support of Operation Epic Fury.”

“Rather than withdrawing forces from the continent altogether, it is in America’s interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe by moving these 5,000 U.S. forces to the east,” they said, reports Adragna. “Allies there have made substantial investments to host US. Troops, reducing costs for the U.S. taxpayer while strengthening NATO’s front line to help deter a far more costly conflict from ever beginning."

The two also argued that “any significant change to the U.S. force posture in Europe warrants a deliberate review process and close coordination with Congress and our allies” for the sake of U.S. and NATO security.

“We expect the Department [of Defense] to engage with its [Congressional] oversight committees in the days and weeks ahead on this decision and its implications for U.S. deterrence and transatlantic security,” the two Republicans warned.

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