According to President Donald Trump, the USA is examining a possible reduction of its troops in Germany. However, this would not affect the new federal states anyway. This is because there are no US troops stationed in eastern Germany. The troop stationing law explains why. The Two Plus Four Treaty of September 1990 stipulates that foreign armed forces and nuclear weapons or their carriers can neither be stationed in the new federal states nor relocated there. The Residence Treaty of 1954, which grants the armed forces of Germany's contracting parties the right to permanent residence on the territory of the old federal states, therefore does not apply in principle in the federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. In individual cases, the federal government can approve stays by foreign armed forces that do not constitute a deployment or relocation. According to the US military, around 86,000 soldiers are currently stationed in Europe as of mid-April - around 39,000 of them in Germany. The number changes regularly, partly due to rotations and exercises. Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
