President Trump’s decision to cut US troops in Germany may have been done with an eye on punishing the Germans for not spending more on their military, but polls have consistently showed Germans aren’t thrilled with the US presence, and the latest YouGov/DPA poll again shows that.
The new poll says 47% of Germans favor the idea of 12,000 US soldiers leaving Germany. Only 28 percent wanted the troops to stay. On top of this, 25% of Germans said they’d just as soon the US leave Germany outright.
This shows a split between the Germans and the nation’s political parties, as only Die Linke supports the US troop cuts, and supports the US leaving fully from the country. Other parties generally oppose the troop cuts, warning they would harm US-German ties.
US hopes of teaching Germany a lesson seem far-fetched, as the Germans see the US presence as largely optional, and with allies on all borders, and no real enemies, it is hard to blame them.
Yet the US wants Germany to pay for the occupation.
This post is misleading. The numbers are 47% for reduction, 28% for troops to stay, 4% for an increase, and 21% who declined to answer. One in four (25%) is a sub-category of the 47% that favor a reduction.
Germans in favor of US soldiers leaving Germany are even higher in west and south Germany where US bases are located.
“Die Linke” supports Trump! How delicious!