Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain.

This comes a day after saying that he was looking at reducing the number deployed in Germany.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has spoken out against the US-Israeli war on Iran from the start, while Rome had played a balancing act until late March, when it refused the use of an airbase in Sicily to US planes carrying weapons for Iran.

Trump made the threat when asked whether he would consider pulling US troops out of Italy and Spain.

“Probably … look, why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible.”
Donald Trump

About 13,000 US military personnel are stationed across seven naval bases in Italy. There was no immediate official response from Spain, which has denied the US permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory for attacks on Iran and been the most outspoken EU critic of Trump’s war. Last month, Trump threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain, where about 3,800 active-duty US military personnel were stationed at the end of 2025 at two joint-use facilities, the Rota naval station and the Morón airbase.

In Spain, the Rota naval station and Morón airbase, both in Andalusia, are under Spanish sovereignty and commanded by Spanish officers, but receive significant US funding.

Rota is a key hub for the US navy’s sixth fleet, and Morón a strategic staging post for the US air force and marine corps for operations across Europe and Africa. Both are seen as core elements of US power projection in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

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.

Defence analysts, opposition Democrats and even some members of Trump’s own Republican party see a strong US military presence in Europe as a vital part of the country’s global military reach, with major troop withdrawals or base closures, particularly in Germany, likely to end up costing billions of dollars and significantly reducing Washington’s capacity to mount operations around the world.

Late last year, in an apparent rebuke to Trump’s threats to downgrade military ties with Europe, the US House approved a defence bill limiting the president’s authority to reduce troop numbers, barring levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days and blocking the removal of major equipment.

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has played down reports that the Pentagon was considering punishing “difficult” NATO allies that have been reluctant to grant the US access, basing and overflight rights, known as ABO, for strikes on Iran by suspending them from the alliance. The transatlantic defence organisation’s founding treaty does not include any mechanism for a member to be expelled.

The Spanish Prime Minister had already upset the US President last year by rejecting NATO’s proposal for member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP, saying the idea would “not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive.”

Trump’s Motives Not Understood

Italy’s Defence Minister, Guido Crosetto, said that he did “not understand” Trump’s motives for the threat to withdraw US troops from Italy and rejected accusations that Rome had not helped the US, especially in relation to maritime security.

Crosetto also alluded to Trump’s accusations that European-linked ships had crossed the strait of Hormuz.

“As is clear to everyone, this never happened. We have also made ourselves available for a mission to protect shipping. This was greatly appreciated by the American military.”
Guido Crosetto

The US naval air station in Sigonella, Sicily, has been under the spotlight since the start of the conflict in Iran as residents and politicians protested against increased activity at the base. Italy refused to allow US military aircraft bound for the Middle East to transit Sigonella in late March because the US had sought authorisation to land only when the aircraft were already en route to Sicily.

According to treaties established in the late 1950s, the US navy bases can be used for logistical and training purposes but not as transit hubs for aircraft used to transport weapons for war unless in an emergency.

Relations between Rome and Washington were further ruptured after Italy’s far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, criticised Trump’s broadside against Pope Leo over the Pontiff’s condemnation of the war on Iran. Trump in turn accused Meloni of lacking courage for not joining the war.