Biden puts freeze on Trump plan to redeploy U.S. troops out of Germany

U.S. President Joe Biden will announce a freeze on a U.S. troop redeployment from Germany that his predecessor had planned, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

"Today he will announce that Secretary [of Defense Lloyd] Austin will lead a global force posture review. And during the pendency of that review will freeze any troop redeployments from Germany," Sullivan told reporters during a briefing.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump had announced plans last year to withdraw around 12,000 US troops from Germany, amid a long-running spat with Berlin about defence spending.

The U.S. currently has around 34,500 troops stationed in Germany, a close ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"Everything we do in our foreign policy and national security will be measured by a basic metric: is it going to make life better, safer, and easier for working families," Sullivan said.

The decision to put a temporary freeze on troop redeployment will be welcomed by many foreign policy experts in Washington, who had long criticized the idea, DPA reported.