He said, "The German government said it has only seen news reports and could not speculate further on what might happen. The presence of US soldiers in Germany serves the overall security of the NATO alliance and the US."

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that US President Donald Trump had ordered the Pentagon to withdraw 9,500 US troops in Germany in September. German politicians said the move would harm the security of Europe and weaken the West in its strategic competition with China.

Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Vice President of the German Marshall Fund, said, "I've followed this relationship for the last 35 years of my professional life – I cannot remember a lower point in the relationship than this. US President Donald Trump seems to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel, not anybody else, as his systemic rival."