President Trump announced Monday that he will nominate retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor to be the next U.S. ambassador to Germany.
Macgregor is a favorite among Trump supporters who want to pull American troops out of the Middle East and Afghanistan. As ambassador, he would oversee Trump’s plan to reduce the significant presence of US troops in Germany.
Trump said this year that he wants to halve the 52,000 US troops in Germany. The Pentagon in June developed plans to withdraw 9,500.
Macgregor is fluent in German, a source told The Post, and is reputed to be an expert on German history.
Opponents of former White House national security adviser John Bolton lobbied Trump last year to fire Bolton and replace him with Macgregor. That post eventually went to American hostage negotiator Robert O’Brien.
Macgregor gained a following following a non-interventionist message on Fox News. He told Tucker Carlson in January that Trump should pull US troops out of Afghanistan because “that’s why we voted for him.”
The former colonel, who served in the Gulf War, also urged Trump to withdraw troops from Syria.
A White House statement says that Macgregor “is widely recognized as an expert in force design and grand strategy. He is a frequent radio and television commentator on national security issues, and his writings on military matters have influenced the transformation of the United States ground forces, NATO, and the Israel Defense Force. “
Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell resigned last month after serving as acting director of U.S. intelligence. Grenell, who is gay, led a campaign by the Trump administration to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide.
Grenell had a reputation for bringing a “Trumpian” approach to relations with German officials. He was a key figure in Trump’s strategic initiatives, including a campaign to stop a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and pressure allies to isolate Iran.
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