US military halts Trump order to withdraw 12,000 troops from Germany

The US military has halted an order issued by Donald Trump to withdraw more than a quarter of its forces from Germany – a move that was hugely controversial and viewed as an expression of spite towards a key western ally.

The freezing of the order to pull out 12,000 troops was unexpectedly revealed by General Tod Wolters, Nato’s supreme allied commander Europe, while answering questions from journalists. He said it would be put on hold to enable the new US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, to carry out a thorough review and report to the president, Joe Biden.

Mr Trump had described his decision as punishment for Germany’s low spending on defence. It was widely seen to be an expression of his anger towards the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who had repeatedly challenged him on a number of issues.