VILSECK — President Trump announced cuts to the U.S. troop presence in Germany that would remove about 5,000 soldiers from Vilseck, a Bavarian town of 6,500 residents. The U.S. Department of Defense announced plans to withdraw about 5,000 of the approximately 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany.

The Stryker Brigade in Vilseck would be affected by the withdrawal, according to Bayerischer Rundfunk. Vilseck has hosted the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, a Stryker infantry unit of the U.S. Army, for decades, and the entrance to the U.S. base near the town displays the inscription "Welcome to Rose Barracks Vilseck."

Vilseck Mayor Thorsten Grädler said that if 5,000 soldiers and their family members were withdrawn, 12,000 to 13,000 people would leave the town, doubling its population. He estimated that Vilseck would lose more than $800 million of revenue per year as a result.

"Over the decades, Americans have become an integral part of our social and cultural life. They rent apartments from us, they shop in our stores, they dine in our restaurants and taverns." Grädler said.

Culinary Sergeant Robert Moore, who has served in the U.S. Army for 11 years and resides in the Netzaberg housing area near the Grafenwoehr military training area north of Vilseck, said in an interview, "I've been here since 2022, so about four years now. And there's nothing to dislike about Germany."

More than 37,000 U.S. forces remain stationed in Germany as part of a military presence established since World War II and the Cold War to deter Russia, defend NATO and project power. Air bases in Germany have been used for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and to provide medical care to soldiers wounded in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.