US Army (Illustrative photo: war.gov)

Two Republican lawmakers, Roger Wicker and Mike Rogers, who head the Pentagon oversight committees in the US Congress, criticized US President Donald Trump's decision to reduce the number of troops in Romania, said in a joint statement.

Wicker chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and Rogers is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. They called Trump's decision uncoordinated and contrary to his strategy.

Disable ads
Disable ads

"We strongly oppose the decision not to maintain a rotational U.S. brigade in Romania and the Pentagon's troop review, which could lead to a further reduction in U.S. troop levels in Eastern Europe," the statement reads.

The Republicans recalled that back in March they said they would not allow changes to the US combat structure to be made without a "rigorous interagency process" and coordination with the military and Congress. However, in their opinion, Trump is trying to do just that .

Wicker and Rogers are concerned that these actions send the wrong message to Russia at a time when Trump is trying to pressure dictator Vladimir Putin to come to the table for peace in Ukraine.

"The President is absolutely right: now is the time for America to demonstrate its resolve to stand up to Russian aggression. Unfortunately, the Pentagon's decision appears to be uncoordinated and directly contradicts the president's strategy," the statement said .

Senators demand that the Pentagon explain how it intends to mitigate the consequences of this decision for NATO's deterrence and defense policy, and whether it has coordinated with allies to minimize these consequences.

"We will also ask for assurances that, as the President has previously stated, the two armored brigades in Poland remain in place and that the United States continues to maintain a permanent rotational presence in Poland, the Baltic States, and Romania," the lawmakers said .

RomaniaEastern EuropeRomaniauS troops