This is The Guardian.

Today, as Trump withdraws troops from Germany, is Europe ready for a future without America?

No. Lactual is a very unique place.

I mean, it's just a small town in Germany at first glance.

You've got the sort of Rhineland architecture and the sloping red roofs and these sort of

19th century buildings around.

Deborah Cole covers Germany for The Guardian, and she recently visited Landshul in the southwest

of the country, which, while very German, is also very American.

You have the American fast food joints and you've got a nail salon with an American flag in front of it.

They had a fun fair going when we were there, decorated with Uncle Sam. It's essentially just,

you know, kind of one big welcome at for Americans to feel part of this community. And they have been for, you know, now 81 years.

Ever since the U.S. Army marched into the nearby city of Kaiser-Slautton in the spring of

1945, Americans have been woven into the fabric of life here. Of the 68,000 U.S. military personnel

stationed in Europe, around 9,000 live in Landstool, along with their families.

So when Donald Trump announced he would be withdrawing American troops from Germany,

apparently to punish the German Chancellor for suggesting his war in Iran was a mistake,

dismay spread across Landstool.

I spoke to a high school teacher in town who compared it to like a bomb shell.

Shockered, I'm just quite honestly saying.

I'm just going to just long here in the area and we love our Americaner.

I'll translate that for you. Around here we love our American, she says.

Across Europe, leaders are starting to wonder what will happen if this is just the start of the American withdrawal from the continent, potentially from NATO too.

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