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25-05-2026
WASHINGTON/ WARSAW: United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to deploy an additional 5,000 troops to Poland.
Trump announced the surprise deployment on social media late on Thursday, citing his friendship with right-wing Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
The move came days after a planned deployment to Poland was apparently scrapped and will deepen uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s approach to NATO allies and its long-term commitment to maintaining a military presence in Europe. It leaves European partners increasingly unclear about which areas they should priorities as they formulate defence strategies.
“Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” Trump wrote.
Nawrocki welcomed the announcement on social media.
“Good alliances are those based on cooperation, mutual respect, and a commitment to our shared security,” he wrote on Thursday evening.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski also welcomed the news on Friday, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels”.
The announced deployment is a sudden about-face from US declarations of plans to reduce military support to Europe under Trump’s “America First” doctrine.
The US president has for years been lambasting European NATO partners for failing to spend enough on defence. His opprobrium has risen in recent weeks as European states have criticized the US-Israeli war on Iran and refused to join the conflict.
The Pentagon abruptly announced a week ago that it was scrapping the planned deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland.
Earlier this month, Trump announced he was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany following a spat with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Washington had been “humiliated” by Iranian negotiators.
The US president later said that he would be “cutting a lot further than 5,000”.
Polish officials have noted that Warsaw pays significant sums towards the cost of US troop deployments. The suggestion of a pullback has caused concern over security in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, as Russia’s war on neighboring Ukraine continues, with the Trump administration largely ceasing efforts to mediate a ceasefire.
European states report that they are getting to grips with the need to replace US defence capabilities, albeit slowly. However, sources suggest that the erratic policies emerging from the White House are creating confusion over which elements should be prioritized.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Friday, which will be attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
US defence officials are also confused, according to the AP news agency.
“We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one official.
The US president has lashed out at fellow NATO members in recent months for failing to support the US-Israeli war on Iran, suggesting Washington could withdraw from the military alliance as a result.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio would discuss the need for NATO allies to increase defence spending and shoulder greater responsibility at Friday’s meeting of NATO foreign ministers. (Int’l News Desk)
