“U.S. officials fear Moscow will retaliate if the Trump administration follows through on the effort to deploy precision missiles in the middle of the continent, according to two European officials and one American official,” Politico wrote.
“But any decision not to deliver them would yank back a deal made during the Biden administration and leave Berlin without defenses German leaders say they desperately need.”
The move would be part of a broader U.S. pullback from NATO, including plans to cancel the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops in Germany and to withdraw some forces.
U.S. officials are believed to be worried not only about a Russian reaction but also about depleted U.S. munitions stocks. Politico noted that in the early weeks of the war with Iran, the U.S. expended thousands of Tomahawk and Patriot missiles. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress in May that replenishing munitions used in combat would take "months and years."
A possible cancellation of the Tomahawk deployment alarmed
German officials, who are racing to modernize their armed forces to serve as a
bulwark against the resurgent Russian threat.