GOP chairs blast Trump’s move to pull troops from Romania

The United States has informed allies that it is pulling some U.S. troops from NATO’s eastern flank, including Romania, a decision that has infuriated the Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees.

The Romanian defense ministry announced Wednesday that the U.S. military will halt some rotations of brigades in NATO nations, including Romania’s Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, which hosts more than 1,400 U.S. troops and the Army’s Garrison Black Sea.

“The decision was expected, as Romania is in permanent contact with its American strategic partner,” the Romanian government said in a statement . “The downsizing of the US forces is an effect of the new priorities of the presidential administration, announced in February. The decision also took into account the fact that NATO had strengthened its presence and activity on the Eastern Flank, which allows the United States to adjust its military posture in the region.”

About 1,000 U.S. soldiers will remain deployed in Romania to “contribute to the deterrence of any threats and will represent a guarantee of the US commitment to regional security.”

The move was rebuked by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

“We strongly oppose the decision not to maintain the rotational U.S. brigade in Romania and the Pentagon’s process for its ongoing force posture review that may result in further drawdowns of U.S. forces from Eastern Europe,” Wicker and Rogers said in a joint statement  on Wednesday.

“On March 19, we stated that we will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress,” they added.

“Unfortunately, this appears to be exactly what is being attempted. Two weeks ago, President Trump stated that the United States would not be withdrawing U.S. forces in Europe, but instead ‘may move some around a little bit,’” the Republican duo said. “The President is right that U.S. force posture in Europe needs to be updated as NATO shoulders additional burdens and the character of warfare changes. But that update must be coordinated widely both within the U.S. government and with NATO.”

U.S. European Command issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the move “is not an American withdrawal from Europe or a signal of lessened commitment to NATO and Article 5.”

“Rather this is a positive sign of increased European capability and responsibility. Our NATO allies are meeting President Trump’s call to take primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe. This force posture adjustment will not change the security environment in Europe,” it said.

“The U.S. maintains a robust presence throughout the European Theater, and maintains the ability to array forces and capabilities to meet objectives in the Theater and support U.S. priorities, including President Trump’s commitment to defend NATO allies.”

The administration’s decision will affect Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria, Romania’s Minister of Defense Ionut Mosteanu said Wednesday during a press conference, adding that the U.S. said at the start of 2025 that they will “focus more” on the Indo-Pacific.

Mihail Kogălniceanu air base, located near the city of Constanța, has been used by the U.S. military since 1999 and has since become one of the main operating bases of the Army’s rotating task force.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Wednesday that adjustments to U.S. force posture are not “unusual” and that the U.S. military presence in Europe “remains larger than it has been for many years, with many more US forces on the continent than before 2022.”

They added that NATO and U.S. officials are in close contact about “overall posture” to ensure the alliance “retains our robust capacity to deter and defend” and that the Trump administration notified the organization in advance about the move.

“The US commitment to NATO is clear. President Trump and his administration have reiterated this time and again,” the official said in a statement. “NATO has robust defense plans in place and we are working to ensure we maintain the right forces and capabilities to deter potential aggression and provide for our collective defense.”

Rogers and Wicker said the decision sends the “wrong signal” to Russia when Trump is trying to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to the table to negotiate on a potential ceasefire agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

The Republican chairmen said that Congress was not consulted in advance about the decision and that they are seeking clarification from the Defense Department on how it plans to “mitigate the impact of this decision on NATO’s deterrence and defense posture and whether they coordinated with Allies to minimize these consequences.”

“We will also seek assurances that, as the President has previously stated, the two armored brigades in Poland remain in place, and that the United States continues to sustain a persistent rotational presence in Poland, the Baltic States, and Romania,” the GOP pair said in the statement.

The U.S.’s decision was welcomed by Dan Caldwell, the former senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was  one of three officials fired  from the Pentagon in April, calling it a “good move.”

“The unit that is being withdrawn is a light infantry brigade deployed on a rotational basis that was deployed after the Russian of Ukraine in 2022 to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank,” Caldwell  said  in a Wednesday post on social platform X. “It was never meant to be a permanent deployment, but of course many wanted it to be.”

Updated at 2:49 p.m. EDT

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