All they are doing is stirring the pot over US troops based in Germany. At some point (probably by spring of 2019), Trump will lay down the card that most US Air Force and Army assets are leaving Germany....for Poland and the UK. The Germans will go ballistic.
And the UK??? That’ll never happen...
Unfortunately your suggestion doesn’t carry much economic affect on Germany. We pulled 95% of our troops out of Germany between 1993 and 2007, after the end of the Cold War.
There are about 34,000 US Army and US Air Force personnel currently in Germany. The only Army combat unit in Germany is the 2nd ACR at Grafenwohr/Vilsek Training Area. USAREUR HQ is in Wiesbaden. There are still a few maintenance and supply depots and a major hospital around Kaiserlauten. The USAF has a couple of air bases left, Ramstein and Bitburg. This map shows all of the locations for US forces in Germany as of 2014: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_deployments
Nearly all of the US Army garrisons that existed when I was in Germany for my two tours there are now closed. The 3 posts I actually served at have been closed for 15 years.
Grey Friar
Actually; at this point, I think we should pull out of the UK as well.
The main reason we have been in Germany isn’t to defend them, it’s to put a stop to German aggression in the post WWII world.
Who exactly does Europe need defending from? They act like this is 1980. Meanwhile, they let in millions of moslems.
America first, that’s the only sensible idea.
Why to the UK? The UK is cutting down its defence budget. And especially once it leaves the EU it will cut the budget further