President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. would deploy an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, an apparent reversal of his moves to reduce the presence of American forces in Europe to punish NATO for a lack of support with the Iran war.
Trump made the troop announcement in a social media post with few details, suggesting it was connected to the election last year of nationalist President Karol Nawrocki. The announcement came shortly after his administration abruptly canceled a large training exercise in Poland — later saying it had only been delayed — and said it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany.
The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for clarification about the announcement.
A Polish official and a NATO representative, granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics, said they were taken aback by the decision, which the administration did not discuss with allies in advance.
Trump has long been a critic of NATO and demanded that European nations increase their spending on the organization. He also repeatedly expressed anger over the refusal of some member nations to support the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
Poland’s military was alerted that the Pentagon had decided to cancel a 4,000-troop deployment to the country last week — blindsiding the country and stunning U.S. defense officials — POLITICO previously reported.
Vice President JD Vance later dismissed the reports in a Tuesday press conference, telling reporters the planned deployment had been delayed but not canceled after Republican lawmakers condemned the move.
That came after the Pentagon announced plans to withdraw 5,000 troops from military bases in Germany earlier this month following Trump’s clash with the country’s leader over the Iran war. Nawrocki said earlier this month that he would ask Trump to send the troops to his country. Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Romania also jockeyed for an increased U.S. military presence in their countries following the announcement.
“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,” the president said in his social media post. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Nawrocki, who was elected in June 2025 with the support of the nationalist Law and Justice party, has largely aligned with the Trump administration since taking office — setting him on a collision course with the country’s pro-EU prime minister, Donald Tusk.
Tusk had previously said that Poland would take “any opportunity” to increase the U.S. military presence in the country but warned against “poaching” troops from other allies in Europe. Polish officials discussed the presence of U.S. troops in their territory with Trump administration officials in Washington this week, according to a Polish readout of the meeting.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, meanwhile, told a defense conference in Warsaw earlier this month that additional U.S. forces would “be welcome in Poland” regardless of where they were originally deployed.
POLITICO previously reported that U.S. defense officials were stunned by Trump’s initial announcement that he would be pulling troops out of Germany — which strongly contrasted a monthslong review by the Pentagon of its global troop footprint. The move came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said publicly that Washington was “being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
Still, Trump has suggested that the cuts could go even further, telling reporters that “we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000” troops in Germany.
Paul McLeary contributed to this report.
