For all the efforts of European leaders to paper over frictions with Donald Trump, there has been no shortage of transatlantic drama over the past couple of weeks. At the start of May, the Pentagon announced that the US would be pulling out 5,000 troops from Germany. The news came after Trump lashed out at Germany’s Prime Minister Friedrich Merz for “doing a terrible...
As of early 2026, the U.S. had almost 170,000 active-duty troops stationed abroad in approximately 750 military bases located in some 178 different countries. Germany has long been one of the countries with the largest number of U.S. troops, more than 36,000 at last count. Currently, Japan with more than 54,000 houses the most, followed by South Korea with 23,000, Italy with 12,000, and...
