It appears Donald Trump is following through on his threats to reduce US military presence in Europe.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that 5,000 troops will be withdrawn from Germany over the next six to 12 months.
The president’s move to reduce the number of personnel deployed in Germany came after the country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the US was being “humiliated” by Iran.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said recent German rhetoric had been “inappropriate and unhelpful”. Trump has also threatened Italy and Spain for not helping to reopen the strait of Hormuz.
The pending withdrawal comes amid a widening rift between the US and Nato allies over the war in Iran. Germany is the US military’s biggest basing location in Europe, with about 35,000 active-duty military personnel, and serves as a key training hub.
US withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany after Merz says US ‘humiliated’ by Iran
It is unclear how much support Trump would have for a significant drawdown. Since the end of the cold war, US bases in Europe have become key forward-staging sites and logistical hubs for US military operations, launching and supporting wars including in Iraq, Afghanistan and, most recently, Iran.
Video shows moment shooter tried to storm White House dinner, officials say
Federal prosecutors released footage Thursday of the moment officials say Cole Tomas Allen tried to storm last week’s White House Correspondents’ Association’s dinner in an alleged attempt to kill Donald Trump.
Amid questions about whether or not Allen fired his weapon before being subdued, Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington DC, released edited security camera footage of the incident in a social media post.
Pentagon plans to make US military ‘AI-first fighting force’ by pairing with companies
The Pentagon said on Friday it had reached agreements with seven leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies: SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.
“These agreements accelerate the transformation toward establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force and will strengthen our warfighters’ ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Voting rights groups sue to block Louisiana from suspending primary elections
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of Louisiana voting rights groups on Friday, asking a state court to block the state’s governor, Jeff Landry, and secretary of state, Nancy Landry, from suspending congressional elections.
Trump tears up part of EU tariff deal to raise import duties on cars and lorries
Donald Trump has said he is tearing up part of the tariff deal he struck with EU leaders at his golf course in Scotland last summer, criticising Brussels for taking so long to ratify the deal.
Blindsiding Brussels late on Friday, a public holiday in much of Europe, he announced that he would be increasing tariffs on cars and lorries imported into the US from the EU from 15% to 25% from next week.
Cuban immigrant dies in Georgia detention center, ICE tells Congress
A Cuban immigrant died inside an immigration detention center in Georgia earlier this week, according to a congressional notification sent on Friday and reviewed by the Guardian.
US lawmakers say DoJ rushed Southern Poverty Law Center indictment
A justice department lawyer working in Todd Blanche’s office pressured prosecutors to file criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) despite their concerns about the strength of the case, a whistleblower told House Democrats.
What else happened today:
The veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi expressed concern about “the spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear” at CBS News and her uncertainty about whether she will keep her job after she pushed back on a directive to change her December segment on Venezuelans who were sent to the Cecot prison in El Salvador.
The chair of the California Democratic party says he wants to get rid of the state’s idiosyncratic “open primary”, calling it a failure that risks pitting a crowded field of Democratic candidates against each other to the point where a Republican can be elected governor of one of the bluest states in the US.
Scott Jennings, CNN’s most prominent pro-Trump commentator, swore at a fellow panelist on live television on Thursday night after being repeatedly pressed to name a single political concession the US had extracted from its war with Iran – and failing to answer.
Leon Botstein has announced he is stepping down from the helm of Bard College, after an independent review of his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein found the college president’s frequent interactions with the convicted sex offender “could have alerted” him to the possibility that he and Bard would be facilitating Epstein’s abuse of women.
Spirit Airlines is preparing to cease operations after the beleaguered company ran out of cash and a rescue attempt by the Trump administration appeared to stall.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Thursday 30 April.
