Trump Threatens to Withdraw U.S. Troops From Italy and Spain as Europe Rift Widens
· Time
President Donald Trump said “yeah, I probably will,” when asked whether he would consider pulling U.S. troops from Italy and Spain.
“Why shouldn't I? Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible. Absolutely horrible,” he replied, doubling down on his argument that NATO allies have not supported the U.S. during the Iran war.
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“We helped them [Europe] with Ukraine… but when we needed them, they were not there. We have to remember that.”
As of December 2025, there were 12,662 U.S. active-duty personnel stationed in Italy and 3,814 in Spain, according to data from the U.S. Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC).
While Spain has yet to respond to Trump mulling over the troops, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has pushed back.
“I wouldn't understand the reasons behind it. As is clear to anyone, we haven't used the Strait of Hormuz. And we've even offered to carry out a mission to protect shipping—a gesture that, incidentally, was greatly appreciated by the U.S. military,” he told Italian ANSA news agency.
TIME has reached out to the Prime Minister offices in Italy and Spain for comment.
Trump’s remarks regarding Italy and Spain mirror a similar warning he issued to Germany this week amid an escalating row with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” he said Wednesday.
Trump bolstered the threat by telling Merz to focus on matters closer to home instead of "interfering" with the Iran war.
Merz earned the wrath of Trump by saying that the U.S. is “being humiliated by the Iranian leadership,” amid the breakdown of negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
The deepening row between the U.S. and its core European allies comes against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East—and the consequential disruption in the Strait of Hormuz that has upended global markets.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been a vocal critic of the war, describing the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes as “illegal.”
Spain denied America access to its joint-military bases to attack Iran and also proceeded to close its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the conflict. The country's position has drawn repeated criticism from Trump, who threatened to cut trade ties with Spain in early March.
Sánchez recently downplayed reports of a leaked internal Pentagon email, which reportedly indicated the U.S. was floating the idea of suspending Spain from NATO as part of a move to punish “difficult” allies.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, once seen as a close ally of Trump in Europe, has also emphasized Italy’s distance from the Iran war.
When it was reported Italy had denied the use of a Sicilian airbase to U.S. military aircraft after concluding proper authorization procedures had not been followed, Trump issued a critical response, insisting: “Italy wasn’t there for us, we won’t be there for them."
Tensions escalated once more over Trump’s public feud with Pope Leo.
The U.S. President accused the Pontiff of being “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after the religious leader called for an end to the war in Iran.
“I find President Trump’s words regarding the Holy Father to be unacceptable,” Meloni said. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he should call for peace and condemn all forms of war.”
Italy is predominantly a Catholic country.
Trump later told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that Meloni was the “unacceptable” one, claiming she “doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon."
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres warned Friday that the "consequences of the Middle East crisis grow dramatically worse with each passing hour.”
“The curtailment of navigational rights and freedoms in the area of the Strait of Hormuz disrupts energy, transport, manufacturing and food markets, and strangles the global economy,” he said.
Guterres urged for the full reopening of the Strait and for “dialogue and measures” that can lead to a durable peace.