US withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The US says it will withdraw five thousand of its troops from Germany, as a rift widens between the two countries over the war in Iran. The German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, says Washington’s decision was foreseeable, but that the continuing presence of American forces was in German and US interests. We speak to a German member of the European parliament.
Also on the programme: British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tells the BBC that he wants tougher policing of protests in the UK after the stabbing of two Jewish men in London; and we hear from two Afghan female footballers about their hopes of competing internationally.
(Photo: Badge of a soldier is seen during the 'Combined Resolve' exercise at 7th Army Training Command's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, 30 April 2026. Credit: Photo by ANNA SZILAGYI/EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.4 | Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.5 | Coming to you live from London, I'm James Kamara Sami. |
| 0:16.0 | And we begin today in Germany where the authorities are digesting an announcement from the Pentagon |
| 0:20.6 | that the United States is to withdraw digesting an announcement from the Pentagon that the United |
| 0:21.6 | States is to withdraw 5,000 troops from the country. Germany currently hosts around 36,000 active-duty |
| 0:28.7 | American troops in several bases, including perhaps best-known one, Ramstein, making it the key European |
| 0:34.6 | hub for the US military's operations. Don't panic. That seems to be |
| 0:39.2 | the official approach. The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said the decision was not a |
| 0:44.0 | surprise and was foreseeable, but its timing is notable. It comes at the end of a week when |
| 0:50.0 | Chancellor Friedrich Metz, like most European leaders leaders and opponent of the US war in Iran, |
| 0:55.1 | made his strongest criticism yet of America's actions. This is what he said in a speech to school |
| 0:59.5 | children on Monday. |
| 1:02.0 | This whole affair is ill-considered, to say the least. And at the moment, I cannot see |
| 1:07.2 | what strategic exit the Americans are opting for, especially as the Iranians are obviously negotiating very skilfully, |
| 1:14.9 | or rather very skillfully not negotiating, |
| 1:18.3 | and letting the Americans travel to Islamabad only to leave again without any results. |
| 1:23.3 | Thus, an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership. |
| 1:28.2 | President Trump responded by saying in a social media post that Mr. Metz thought it was |
| 1:33.7 | okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and doesn't know what he's talking about. |
| 1:38.7 | He'd previously welcome Germany's strong commitment to boost its defence spending. |
| 1:43.1 | In a separate development, the Trump administration has now increased the tariff on car imports |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.