US President Donald Trump has said he plans to cut the number of US troops stationed in Germany "a lot further," a day after the Defense Department ordered the pullback of around 5,000 American service members .

"We're going to cut way down and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000," Trump told reporters in Florida ⁠on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Defense Department said the withdrawal would be completed in the next six to 12 months.

As part of the decision, a Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany has also been scrapped.

The announcement came after a public spat between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Trump earlier in the week.…