National security officials unaware of Trump's decision to cut troops in Germany: rep

[Boats]

National security officials unaware of Trump's decision to cut troops in Germany: report
By: John Bowden - The Hill News - 06-09-20
Re: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5...-cut-troops-in

Once again Trump makes a decision without informing the DOD. He's a one man band!
Who gave him that idea to just pull the strings on the troops in Germany?

President Trump's decision to cut nearly 10,000 troops stationed in Germany caught top officials at the Department of Defense, National Security Council and State Department unaware, according to Reuters.

The news service noted Tuesday that the decision to reduce its troop count in Germany, a top NATO ally, was not shared with some officials at the Pentagon and was reported by The Wall Street Journal before a formal order was sent alerting top brass to the change.

Two sources added that German officials were not consulted by the administration. One source noted, however, that Trump's decision came following months of pressure from the administration for Germany to increase its defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product, the target for all NATO allies.

“In that sense, it wasn’t a surprise, but there was no consultation or coordination. And Trump administration officials had said they did not expect a withdrawal of forces,” the official told Reuters.

Other senior officials at both the Pentagon and State Department “learned something was up when calls started coming around and the [Journal] article hit,” another source told Reuters.

Some officials reportedly pointed to the influence of former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who is also the former acting director of national intelligence, as a reason for the president's sudden decision. The National Security Council did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill, and the Pentagon and State Department referred requests for comment to the NSC.

Grenell told Reuters that the claims that officials were not notified was "gossip," adding that Trump's decision had been “in the works since last year.”

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Personal: Why have all these officials in Washington working at the White House and the War Department? Trump doesn't include any of them in his decisions. Someone had to say something as he's not smart enough to make those decisions on his own? Those troops are with a NATO Allie as a deterrent against Russia and China. This guy isn't thinking things out just worried about money - when he can blow faster then we can print it.
Someone in the NSC didn't confer with the Pentagon or the State Department.

His leadership is showing signs of impracticality and lack of communications with those personnel working in that area. He is once again a One Man Band - and this will come back to bite him in the ass once again. He's no military person and doesn't understand the ramifications of his decision making processes!!!

Boats