(Adnkronos) – Italy’s government hopes that US president Donald Trump does not withdraw troops from Germany and elsewhere in Europe amid a widening rift between the Trump administration, Nato allies and other partners in Europe, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday.
“I hope Trump does not reduce the military presence in Europe,” Tajani told the ‘Five Minutes’ programme, which airs on Friday evening after public broadcaster Tg1’s news bulletin.
“There are the usual redeployments from one country to another, but ultimately the decision to reduce the military presence in Europe rests with President Trump,” said Tajani.
Tajani earlier said he told his US counterpart Marco Rubio in talks on Friday that an American presence in Europe is important to strengthen Nato. Rubio said he was a “strong supporter” of the military alliance but it will be Trump who decides whether to carry out a threat to draw down troops from Nato allies including Germany, Italy and Spain.
Last Friday, Trump said his administration would pull out 5,000 troops from Germany after its Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the Iran war and said the US was being “humiliated” by the prolonged conflict. The following day, Trump told reporters that even more US troop withdrawals could follow, signalling a dramatic scale-back of the US commitment to European security.
Trump has expressed anger at fellow Nato members after they declined to aid the six-week-old US-Israel war against Iran including by refusing US fighter jets to launch attacks from their military bases.
