WSJ: Washington Suspends Plan to Reduce US Troops in Europe

United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly prepared additional plans to reduce the number of US troops in Europe before the proposal was ultimately suspended, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday (2/7). Hegseth had previously planned to announce the proposal at a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) top military officials in Brussels last month. Citing sources familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported that the reduction plan went beyond the cancellation of the deployment of one armoured brigade to Poland and the withdrawal of one infantry brigade from Romania that had been announced earlier. However, the proposal was eventually suspended after it was shared with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser to President Donald Trump, along with several other senior officials. According to the report, Hegseth originally intended to inform NATO military chiefs that the United States was preparing for additional troop reductions in the European region. In May, the administration of President Donald Trump had announced plans to withdraw approximately 5,000 American military personnel from Europe.