GOP leaders rebuke Trump as he sends 'the wrong signal' to Vladimir Putin: report

Two of the top GOP leaders issued a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump on Saturday after the president sent "the wrong signal" to his Russian counterpart, according to a new report.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) issued a joint statement in which they bashed Trump's decision to remove 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, the Washington Examiner reported. Trump made the decision after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Trump's negotiations with the Iranian regime.

“The reality remains that even as allies move toward spending 5% of GDP on defense, translating that investment into the military capability needed to assume primary responsibility for conventional deterrence will take time,” the joint statement reads in part. “Prematurely reducing America’s forward presence in Europe before those capabilities are fully realized risks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.”

Instead of withdrawing the troops entirely, the two Republicans urged Trump to send them eastward, closer to the border with Russia, and to "coordinate with Congress," according to the report.