It appeared that everything was in place to meet Germany's medium-range defense needs: until Germany acquired its own systems, the US was supposed to step in. The plan was to station US Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany. With a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1553 miles), they could reach Russian territory if necessary. The rationale behind this plan was to deter Moscow from attacking Germany. By comparison, Germany's Taurus missile has a maximum range of only 500 kilometers. The deployment of the Tomahawks had been decided in 2024 by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden. Deployment was scheduled to start this year and serve as a stopgap measure until comparable European weapons were developed. But that plan has now been scrapped. US President Donald Trump , who is not on good terms with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz since he criticized the war in Iran, pulled the plug on his predecessor's plan — and also announced the withdrawal of at least 5,000 US troops from Germany.…