BREAKDOWN

Trump Didn’t Warn His Own Officials About Decision to Cut Troop Numbers in Germany, Says Report

National-security officials reportedly learned of the move from newspapers.

President Trump’s decision to slash U.S. troop numbers in Germany reportedly shocked several of his own national-security officials who first learned of the move via The Wall Street Journal website. Last Friday, Trump directed the Pentagon to remove thousands of American troops from Germany over the next few months, reducing the numbers to 25,000 from 34,500 by September. But Reuters reports that a number of U.S. officials at the White House, State Department and Pentagon didn’t know about Trump’s decision until they read about it in the Journal on Friday. A U.S. official told Reuters the Pentagon still hasn’t got a formal order to cut troops and that the decision caught some Defense Department officials off guard. Senior State Department, Pentagon and some national-security council officials “learned something was up when calls started coming around and the WSJ article hit,” a source told Reuters. The news agency also reported that Germany hasn’t been consulted.