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The Pentagon is drawing down thousands of troops in Europe by cancelling deployments to Poland and Germany as opposed to yanking forces already stationed there, US officials say, as President Donald Trump has tussled with allies over the Iran war and called for changes. Several U.S. officials confirmed that 4,000 troops from the Army's 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division were no longer en route to Poland this week. The Trump administration had previously said it was cutting US forces only in Germany, and the decision spurred questions and criticism in both Warsaw and Washington. Two officials told The Associated Press that the deployments were canceled after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo directing the Joint Chiefs of Staff to move a brigade combat team out of Europe. One of them said the choice of which unit was left to military leaders. Besides the Army combat team based in Fort Hood, Texas, the memo also led to the cancellation of an upcoming ...
Germany's defense minister on Saturday appeared to take in stride a Pentagon announcement that the United States plans to pull some 5,000 troops out of the country, President Donald Trump's latest attempt to reduce America's commitment to European security. Boris Pistorius said the drawdown, which Trump has threatened for years, was expected, and he said European nations needed to take on more responsibility for their own defense. But he also emphasized that security cooperation benefited both sides of the trans-Atlantic partnership. "The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the US," Pistorius told the German news agency dpa. The planned withdrawal faced bipartisan resistance in Washington, with swift criticism from Democrats and concern from Republicans that it would send the "wrong signal" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose full=scale invasion of Ukraine recently entered its fifth year. Trump's decis
The United States will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said Friday, fulfilling President Donald Trump's threat as he clashes with the German leader over the US war with Iran. Trump had threatened to withdraw some troops from the NATO ally earlier this week after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was being "humiliated" by the Iranian leadership and criticised Washington's lack of strategy in the war. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the "decision follows a thorough review of the Department's force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theatre requirements and conditions on the ground." The US has several major military facilities in Germany, including the headquarters for US European Command and US Africa Command, Ramstein Air Base, and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American hospital outside the United States. The number of troops leaving Germany would be 14 per cent of the 36,000 .
A US special forces soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than USD 400,000 in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyke was part of the operation to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to make money on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor's office in New York said. He has been charged by the Justice Department with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction. He could face years in prison. Van Dyke, 38, was involved in the planning and execution of capturing Maduro for about a month beginning Dec. 8, 2025, according to the federal prosecutor's office. Yet despite the fact that he signed nondisclosure agreemen
The US Army has ordered several dozen additional active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minneapolis if needed, a defense official said Wednesday, amid protests over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown. The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, confirmed that members of an Army military police brigade who are stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina have been given prepare-to-deploy orders. If deployed, the troops would likely offer support to civil authorities in Minneapolis, according to the official, who stressed that such standby orders are issued regularly and they do not necessarily mean that the troops would end up going. About 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the Army's 11th Airborne Division based in Alaska also have received similar standby orders. President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that would allow him to use active-du
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation, two defence officials said Sunday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army's 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders. The unit is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions. One defence official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely-used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement. The move comes just days after Trump threatened to do just that to quell protests against his administration's immigration crackdown. In an emailed statement, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny the orders were issued and said
President Donald Trump has nominated Lt Gen Christopher LaNeve to serve as the Army's second-highest-ranking officer, according to congressional records. Gen James Mingus is currently vice chief of staff and has not publicly said he plans to step aside. He has been in the job less than two years, and it is typically a tenure that lasts at least three years. The move, which was posted in congressional records on Monday, is the latest in a series of surprise and unexplained firings, reassignments and promotions that have been transforming the senior ranks of the military under Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Officials in the Army and Hegseth's office would not offer any details on Mingus' apparent ouster and the effort to promote LaNeve, who is now Hegseth's top military aide. Maj Peter Sulzona, a spokesman for Mingus, told The Associated Press by email that he would not comment on pending nominations but that Mingus will continue to execute the duties and responsibilities
National Guard troops patrolled in Tennessee's second-largest city for the first time Friday while soldiers in Illinois were engaged only in planning and training after a judge handed a loss to the Trump administration and blocked their deployment to the Chicago area. At least nine armed Guard members began their patrol at the Bass Pro Shops located at the Pyramid, an iconic Memphis landmark, about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from historic Beale Street and FedEx Forum, where the NBA's Grizzlies play. They were also at a nearby tourist welcome centre along the Mississippi River. Wearing Guard fatigues and protective vests labelled military police, the troops were escorted by a local police officer and posed for photos with visitors. Meanwhile, in Illinois, Democratic US Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth said they were barred from visiting an immigration enforcement building near Chicago. For weeks, it's been home to occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents. What are
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an order sending the National Guard into Memphis to combat crime, constituting his latest test of the limits of presidential power by using military force in American cities. Trump made the announcement with Republican Tennessee Gov Bill Lee visiting the Oval Office, calling what's coming a "replica of our extraordinarily successful efforts" in Washington. That was a reference to last month, when the president deployed National Guard troops to the nation's capital and federalised the city's police force in a crackdown he has since argued reduced crime. Trump said that, in addition to troops, the push in Memphis would involve officials from various federal agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Marshall's service: "We're sending in the big force now." Shortly before Trump's announcement, the White House said on social media that the Memphis total crime rate was higher than t
About 200 Marines have moved into Los Angeles and will protect federal property, personnel, the commander in charge says. Maj Gen Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed, said Friday that the Marines have finished training on civil disturbance. Sherman said the Marines would take over their operations at noon local time in downtown Los Angeles. The development comes a day after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a federal judge's order that had directed President Donald Trump to return control of National Guard troops to California, shortly after a federal judge had ruled the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded Trump's statutory authority.