Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division aim their weapons during an exercise at Trzebien Training Area, Poland, in this undated photo. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, marking the latest twist in the U.S. military’s fast-changing mission in Europe. (Jacob Nunnenkamp/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, marking the latest twist in the U.S. military’s fast-changing mission in Europe.
In a post on his Truth Social website, Trump cited his close relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki as the reason for the move.
Trump did not say when the troops would be deployed to Poland or from where they would come. U.S. European Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is not clear how Trump’s announcement affects an earlier Pentagon decision to halt the deployment of a Fort Hood, Texas-based armored brigade to Poland. That unit, which already had deployed some of its 4,000 troops and equipment to Europe, was expected to carry out a nine-month rotation in Poland before the plan was curtailed.
That withdrawal decision was met with immediate bipartisan criticism by U.S. lawmakers who called for the mission to be restored. Polish officials also were left confused by the move, given that Trump has frequently praised Poland as a model ally.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, speaking at the start of a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Sweden on Friday, welcomed Trump’s announcement and said that military commanders were working through the details.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking alongside Rutte, acknowledged Trump’s Poland announcement without offering specifics on how the troop boost would be completed. He added that because of the U.S.’s global military commitments, the overseas force posture is constantly being reexamined.
“This is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing and it was preexisting all these recent reports and tensions,” Rubio said.
If the Pentagon wants to immediately carry out Trump’s directive, one option is to simply resume the deployment of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, which was already underway.
Otherwise, the Pentagon will need to either shift U.S. forces from other locations in Europe or bring troops over from the United States.
The back-and-forth announcements have left allies and lawmakers struggling to understand the Pentagon’s broader plans for Europe.
The uncertainty began after Trump said he would withdraw U.S. troops from Germany following clashes with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over U.S. policy toward Iran. A later Pentagon statement made no mention of Poland.
Earlier this week, EUCOM’s Gen. Alexus Grynkewich confirmed that the units affected were a long-range fires battalion expected to deploy to Germany later this year and the Fort Hood brigade bound for Poland.
The easiest approach to meeting Trump’s new 5,000-troop directive would be to send rotational forces to Poland, as the Pentagon has done for many years. In recent years, the U.S. has maintained between 8,000 and 10,000 rotational troops in Poland, which has invested heavily in infrastructure to support those deployments.
In part because of its location on NATO’s eastern flank, Poland has served as a new center of gravity for the U.S. Army in Europe. Troops based there conduct a wide range of maneuvers and exercises, including with NATO’s Baltic allies.
However, the types of bases that have been built up at locations such as Poznan, Powidz and Zagan don’t have the facilities to support a large, permanently based unit that includes spouses and children. While conditions at those locations have improved, they still lack family housing, schools for military dependents, commissaries or other services typical of garrisons that house military families.
If the Pentagon’s aim is to shift a Germany-based unit to Poland — such as the Vilseck, Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment or another large unit — that could take time given the investments needed to support such a contingent.
Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Friday, said his country was willing to pay the costs to build a garrison capable of hosting a brigade on a permanent basis.
Security analysts and Army officials have long debated whether to boost troop levels on NATO’s eastern flank and whether to do so using rotational units or permanently stationed forces.
For over a decade, the military has favored a rotational approach, given the flexibility involved.
However, military researchers have found that such missions put a strain on troops and their families. Analysts also have found that rotations of armored units to Poland are more expensive than forward basing such forces in the country over the long term.
