Trump says US will send 5,000 more troops to Poland, days after Pentagon cancels deployment of 4,000 troops | Today’s news

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday (local time) that Washington will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland after the election.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “Based on the successful election of the current President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, whom I proudly supported, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland.

The US president’s announcement came two days after Vice President JD Vance told reporters that the deployment of troops to Poland had been delayed, Reuters reported.

Read also | Vance says the decision by Polish troops will force Europe to step up

The recent development reverses an earlier plan to suspend military deployments in the allied country, Bloomberg reported. Nawrocki, who was elected president last year and is considered a Trump ally, was reportedly taken aback by the decision to limit the presence of US troops in Poland.

The US is limiting the deployment of troops in Europe

Last week, the US Pentagon suspended the rotational deployment of an armored brigade to Warsaw and later announced that it would permanently withdraw 4,000 troops from Europe as part of a wider review of its force posture on the continent. The plan has raised concerns among America’s allies around the world.

Washington has been reassessing its troop presence in Europe and was long expected to reduce it following Trump’s demands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to take a bigger role in Europe’s defense.

Read also | Trump withdraws deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland and increases pressure on NATO

According to the Washington Post, earlier this week the Pentagon announced plans to suspend any additional troop deployments to NATO ally Poland as President Trump’s administration moves forward with its “America First” agenda and withdraws thousands of forces from Europe.

Trump has repeatedly urged European allies to take more responsibility for their defense. He also recently expressed frustration with what he sees as limited support from key NATO partners during the US-Israeli confrontation with Iran.

In a released statement, the Pentagon called Poland an “exemplary American ally” and noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had called Polish Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz earlier in the day to assure him that Washington would maintain a “strong military presence in Poland” despite planned personnel reductions.

The statement went on to say that the US Department of Defense “will determine the final deployment of these and other forces in Europe based on further analysis of US strategic and operational requirements, as well as our allies’ own ability to contribute forces to the defense of Europe.”

In a separate move last year, Trump, who has been unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Romania. The Pentagon also announced plans this month to remove about 5,000 service members from Germany, a move widely interpreted as retaliation after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the Iran war and said the United States had been “humiliated.”

Poland welcomes the US decision that the troop reduction is temporary

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Polish officials expressed support for a US statement clarifying that the decision to halt the deployment of 4,000 US troops in Poland is only temporary.

Last week, the Polish government reacted with surprise after learning that soldiers from the US Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, would no longer continue their planned deployment to the country bordering Ukraine.

Read also | Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine: “European planes in Poland, give up Donbass”

The Trump-Nawrock measure

Trump hosted the Polish president at the White House in May last year and endorsed him at a crucial moment before the election, in which Nawrocki defeated the pro-European centrist candidate of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The two met again in September at the White House, with Trump saying the US could increase its troop presence in Poland and pledging to ensure the country’s defense.

Key things

• The US military strategy in Europe is undergoing significant changes under the Trump administration.
• The decision to send more troops to Poland underscores the U.S. commitment to its allies amid NATO’s evolving role.
• Political affiliations influence military deployments, as seen in Trump’s endorsement of Poland’s new president.