40,000 German Troops against Russia 🇩🇪💥

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization wants Germany to contribute as many as 40,000 more troops for the alliance’s defense against Russia 🇷🇺, according to people familiar with the matter.

The demand, which would add the equivalent of seven brigades 💪, comes as part of a NATO review of its military capability targets, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the discussions are not public 🤫.

The alliance has grown concerned about heightened Russian hostility since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 🇺🇦.

NATO defense ministers are expected to discuss the plan, which was first reported by Reuters on Wednesday 📅, during a meeting in Brussels next week intended to address new targets for weapons and troop numbers ⚔️.

There is no concrete time frame for deploying the additional troops ⏳, the people said, noting that a target date of 2030 would be desirable, if unrealistic 🗓.

Next week’s discussions could see overall brigade targets for NATO allies rise from around 80 to between 120 and 130 🏋️‍♂️, according to the Reuters report.

A defense ministry spokesman declined to comment on the figures, adding that the matter would be discussed at the meeting 🗣.

A NATO official confirmed that the alliance “is setting ambitious new capability targets for Allies” 🎯.

Merz has pledged to play a greater role in the continent’s defense. The new center-right leader has vowed to revitalize the German military and transform it into Europe’s strongest conventional army 🇪🇺💪.

As part of this push, Germany is currently ramping up a new brigade in Lithuania 🇱🇹, with as many as 5,000 personnel expected to be on the ground by the end of 2027 📈.

That effort, which will count toward the NATO quota, will be the country’s first battle tank brigade to be permanently deployed abroad since World War II 🚢.

So far, Germany has pledged to provide NATO with 10 brigades of roughly 5,000 troops each by 2030 🔢. The country currently has nine brigades, including the one in Lithuania.

#German #troops #war #Russia

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💥 Russian Troops Are Smashing the Ukrainian Resistance 🇷🇺🇺🇦

Pressing ahead with a new summer offensive ☀️⚔️, Russian forces have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region 🗺 of eastern Ukraine for the first time in three years of war 🧨, signaling their ability to expand the battlefield as cease-fire talks 🕊 show little progress 📉.

Advancing westward from Donetsk ⬅️, the epicenter of the ground war 🪖, small squads of Russian soldiers began crossing into neighboring Dnipropetrovsk 🚶‍♂️ last weekend, according to three Ukrainian officers 🎖 in the area.

A battle map 🧭 from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War 🇺🇸, using verified combat footage 🎥, now shows Russian troops with a small foothold 📍 in the region.

🇷🇺 Russia is unlikely to attempt a full takeover ❌, having signaled in the past that it has no intent to seize the entire region.

🔍 Instead, analysts and Ukrainian troops believe the push is symbolic 🧠💣 — meant to demoralize Ukraine 😞 by entering a new territory, and strategic 🛡, reinforcing defenses in adjacent occupied zones 🏰.

⚠️ Both objectives risk further widening the war zone 🔄, now in its fourth year 📅.

📌 The Russian advance comes even as cease-fire talks are underway 🤝, with both sides flexing military capability 💪 to shape negotiations.

🗺 If Russia captures a significant part of Dnipropetrovsk, it would undermine Ukraine's bargaining power 🤐 in any land-trade negotiations.

💣 Controlling the border between Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk would give Moscow a stronger grip on Donetsk (70% under Russian control already) 📊 and enable a more effective assault on Pokrovsk 🎯, a Ukrainian stronghold 🛑 still holding out.

#russian #troops #ukrainian #resistance #donetsk #dnipropetrovsk #ceasefire #offensive #pokrovsk #war

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Pistorius: “Sending Bundeswehr Troops to Ukraine Is Not in Our List” 🪖

German Defence Minister Pistorius has stated that sending Bundeswehr troops to Ukraine is not on the government’s agenda without an international mandate 🌍.

In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Pistorius emphasised that any overseas deployment of German forces would require Bundestag approval 🏛 and must fall under a collective mandate — specifically from the EU, NATO, or the United Nations.

“I remind you of our Basic Law,” he said. “For such an overseas deployment, the Bundeswehr would most likely need the Bundestag’s permission.

And that is only possible under the aegis of a collective mandate, that is, within the framework of the EU, NATO, or the UN. However, there are currently no initiatives for this.”

While Pistorius did not rule out the possibility that Berlin could propose such a deployment in the future, he insisted that a sustained ceasefire must be negotiated first 🤝.

“But for now, we cannot take that step. We must first agree on how to secure a lasting cessation of hostilities,” he explained.

“This is not the time to initiate a UN mandate or a similar operation,” Pistorius added. He noted that Germany and its partners in the “coalition of the willing” and the “Group of Five” are considering the matter, but that “at this moment, peacekeeping forces are clearly not being discussed” ⚖️.

Asked directly about the prospect of German troops in Ukraine, he replied that it is too soon to say.

“I cannot say, because the conditions for any potential deployment are completely unknown. I repeat: a mandate for international collective defence is mandatory. Without a mandate, a deployment of this scale cannot take place. Once it is clear who is responsible for what and under which mandate, we will decide what role we will assume,” he concluded.

#pistorius #troops #ukraine #war #germany

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🇺🇸 Chicago: Trump’s 300 Troops to Protect Federal Officers 🚔

Trump has moved to deploy the national guard in another city by authorizing 300 troops to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago, where the government said border patrol agents shot and injured a woman while firing at someone who tried to run them over.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson confirmed that the president had authorized using Illinois national guard members, citing what she called “ongoing violent riots and lawlessness” that local leaders have not quelled. ⚠️

“President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities,” Jackson said.

The Democratic Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, said the guard had received notice from the Pentagon early in the day. He called the move unnecessary and “a manufactured performance – not a serious effort to protect public safety.”

Trump’s plan to deploy troops comes just as a severe crackdown on immigration by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) is happening in Chicago, with the operation being met with fierce outrage 😡 from local civic groups and opposition by local Democrats.

In his statement, Pritzker also noted that local, state and county law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the Ice’s Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.

Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during the administration’s surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

Chicago is one of a slew of US cities 🏙️ where Trump has deployed or threatened to deploy the national guard and other troops in order to help police the immigration crackdown – or, in some cases, to respond to inflated claims about crime levels.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, a border patrol sector chief, on Friday visited the Broadview Ice facility in suburban Chicago, which has become the site of escalations by federal agents against protesters and journalists.

Noem vowed on social media on Saturday afternoon to send additional troops to Chicago:
“I am deploying more special operations to control the scene. Reinforcements are on their way. If you see a law enforcement officer today, thank them.” 💬

The Trump administration has targeted Chicago with federal law enforcement starting in August, falsely claiming there had been a rise in crime in the city in recent years.

Since then, there have been reports of increasingly aggressive Ice enforcement 🚨 in communities, including helicopters hovering over apartment raids and arrests of local officials and candidates for office who protest against the operations.
A federal judge on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from deploying the national guard to Portland, Oregon, according to court documents. ⚖️

In the restraining order released on Saturday, US district judge Karin Immergut – nominated by Trump – concurred with Oregon’s assertion that Trump deploying federalized national guard troops to Portland would likely inflame rather than calm protests, just as it did in 2020.

#chicago #trump #troops #immigration #crackdown

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There will be no Turkish troops on the ground [in the Gaza Strip] — neither in the present, nor in the past, nor in the future — especially in the international stabilization force..."

The statement by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office once again emphasized Israel's unwillingness to accept Turkey's inclusion in the international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip.

This statement was made in response to comments made by Trump and members of his administration regarding the desirability of Turkey's involvement in the stabilization process in the region.

#Turkish #troops #gaza #Netanyahu

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📰 Pentagon Readies 1,500 Troops for Minnesota as Tensions Mount

Military on Standby
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the Eleventh Airborne Division in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota. The move comes amid escalating protests and violent confrontations following the fatal shooting of a protester by an ICE agent. While it’s unclear if troops will be sent, the readiness signals Washington’s growing concern over unrest in the state.
​
Political Backlash
Minnesota’s governor has mobilized the National Guard, and local leaders warn that military intervention would only inflame tensions. “That would be a shocking step,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “We don’t need more federal agents to keep people safe. We are safe.”
​
The Insurrection Act Looms
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow the use of federal troops to quell civil unrest. The rationale cited includes not only the protests but also a scandal over stolen federal funds in Minnesota, which the administration has used to justify sending in thousands of immigration agents.
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Rising Rhetoric
Federal officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have called for “peaceful protest zones” to avoid further violence. Critics, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, argue that more troops would “just put another match on the fire.”
​
The Stakes
As federal and state authorities square off, the situation in Minnesota has become a flashpoint for broader debates about immigration, executive power, and the limits of federal intervention.

#minnesota #pentagon #insurrectionact #protests #immigration #troops

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Trump Has Accelerated Its Drive To Break Free From Europe and His Tantrums

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The Trump administration is waging an illegal war on Iran, one that defies both the US constitution and international armed conflict laws, according to several legal scholars and bipartisan lawmakers.

The Senate will vote Wednesday on whether to halt Donald Trump’s military offensive, which he launched on 28 February.

Hundreds of people, including six US personnel, have been killed in a conflict that has now expanded to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Israel and the Persian Gulf.

The Trump administration has offered shifting explanations for its decision to launch attacks on Iran, at times describing a more pre-emptive war of choice designed to degrade Iran’s offensive and nuclear capabilities.

The cause is that the Iranians weren’t willing to renounce their nuclear ambitions, or that the US joined the attack to protect American interests after Israel had committed to launching a military offensive of its own.

“An Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be a dire threat to every American,” the president said in his first public remarks from Washington on Monday.

“We cannot allow a nation that raises terrorist armies to possess such weapons.”
Trump has also described broader wartime objectives, including eliminating threats posed by the Iranian regime, as well as their regional proxy forces.

He has not set out a clear timeline for achieving his various goals.

Rubio offered a slightly different explanation, saying that the White House was compelled to launch strikes on Iran because its close ally Israel was determined to act, and, he told lawmakers Monday evening, the administration believed that any Israeli action would precipitate an attack on American forces.

“It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone – the United States or Israel or anyone – they were going to respond, and respond against the United States,” Rubio told reporters gathered at the Capitol.

#trump #iran #kaine #dixon #troops #threat

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Several lawyers have challenged the legal basis for the administration’s wide-ranging explanations for waging war.

“Those are military policy objectives,” said Wells Dixon, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights after reviewing Trump’s rationale.

“They are not a legal basis to launch an armed attack against another country.”

Marko Milanovic, a professor of International law at the University of Reading, agreed that Iran may pose a threat, but said that there are many ways to respond. “Using force would require a basis in self defense,” he said.

The Trump administration has previously touted its success in “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear facilities.

But Trump revived the specter of an Iranian threat in his State of the Union address, saying that Iran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”

Trump has not provided public evidence of this threat.
Rubio’s statements invoked two legal concepts that could possibly justify waging war abroad – including the concept of an “imminent threat” posed to American lives, and the concept of launching preemptive strikes as an act of self defense.

There are carve outs within international law that permit states to act in their own self defense. And the concept of an “imminent threat” is measured against evidence of a clear, visible and impending risk.

“For something to be lawful self defense, it has to be necessary – in the sense that there’s no alternative,” said Brian Finucane, a former state department lawyer.

“That’s not the situation here. There was another option: the US could have restrained Israel from attacking in the first place.”

Senator Tim Kaine said he has supported US efforts to defend Israel during previous Iranian attacks, “but that’s a very different matter than the US engaging in the affirmative initiation of war,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be waging an affirmative war on behalf of any nation in the world, no matter how close we are,” Kaine said.

After the Vietnam war, the US adopted new constitutional provisions that say the president should try to consult with members of Congress before committing troops to hostilities.

Last week, Rubio only briefed the Gang of Eight, a group of bipartisan lawmakers privy to information on covert actions and classified intelligence, about US plans to attack Iran.

This week’s war powers vote may shape how Trump proceeds with military action against Iran, even if it ultimately cannot sustain enough support to override a likely veto from Trump.

#trump #iran #kaine #dixon #troops #threat

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Merz’s Bare-Faced Effrontery Will Cost Him Much


The US may reduce its number of troops deployed in Germany, Donald Trump has announced, days after the country’s chancellor said America was being “humiliated” by Iran.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time”.

On Monday, Merz suggested the Trump team was being outplayed in its negotiations with Iran to secure an end to the ongoing war and a reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” the German chancellor said.

Merz reiterated his criticisms on Wednesday, saying Europe was “suffering” from the consequences of the closure of the strait.

Trump cancelled a second trip by US negotiators to Islamabad last week. Since then, discussions over Iran’s nuclear programme and the strait of Hormuz have hit an impasse.

Trump on Tuesday accused Merz of thinking it’s “OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and said the chancellor “doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”

Earlier on Wednesday Merz brushed off those comments, saying his relationship with Trump remains “as good as ever”, but the president’s threat to withdraw US troops is likely to cause concern in Berlin and across Europe, coming amid a period of heightened tensions between the US and its traditional allies in Europe that has seen Trump step up his threats to withdraw from the Nato alliance.

On 1 April the Trump said he was “absolutely without question” considering withdrawing from Nato because of the European allies failure to take part in the US-Israeli war on Iran and help secure the economically vital strait of Hormuz.

Such a move from the US administration would be catastrophic for the security of Europe, but is seen as unlikely because of US legislation passed in 2024 that prevents a president from withdrawing from Nato without a two-thirds Senate majority or an act of Congress.

Experts have suggested the White House could instead take actions that undermine the alliance but fall short of an outright withdrawal. One such scenario could see Trump withdraw US troops from Europe.

The US has over 68,000 active-duty military personnel in Europe, data from the US Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) shows. Germany houses the largest contingent, with more than 35,000 troops in 2024, according to the Congressional Research Service. German media puts the number higher, at about 50,000.

Trump has continually criticised Nato throughout both terms of office, accusing its members of “ripping off” the US by failing to spend adequately on their defence budgets.

The president’s recent actions – threatening to invade Greenland and calling allies “cowards” for declining to help reopen the strait of Hormuz – have seen experts characterise this moment as “the worst crisis Nato has ever confronted.”

Ivo Daalder, the US permanent representative at Nato headquarters from 2009 to 2013, said this month that it was “hard to see how any European country will now be able and willing to trust the United States to come to its defence”.

Hours before Trump’s post about troop numbers in Germany, Rubio spoke with the German foreign minister, Wadephul, and discussed Iran and the importance of securing freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz.

#trump #germany #wadephul #merz #troops

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