President Donald Trump announced that Poland might play host to U.S. forces after withdrawing them from Germany (Image: Getty)
President Donald Trump suggested U.S. troops pulled from Germany could end up in Poland, raising the prospect of a shift in America’s military posture in Europe as the Pentagon plans a reduction of about 5,000 service members over the next year.
“Poland would like that,” Trump told journalists on Friday when asked whether forces could be moved east. “We have a great relationship with Poland. I have a great relationship with the president. … I like him a lot, so that’s possible.”
The Pentagon confirmed earlier this month that the United States will withdraw 5,000 troops from military bases in Germany. Trump has indicated the cut could grow beyond that figure, saying the Pentagon would be “cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has already offered to host an American military presence in his country, noting that Poland already has “the infrastructure ready” for such a resence in his country. “If, for any reason — discussed and publicly known — President Donald Trump decides to reduce the American military component in Germany, we in Poland are ready to accept American troops; we have the infrastructure in place to do so,” Nawrocki said in a speech.
“Regardless of political views, everyone is aware that the presence of American troops — whether in Poland or other Central and Eastern European countries — increases security,” added the Polish President. The planned drawdown follows Trump’s public criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after disagreements tied to the Iran war.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has already offered to host an American military presence in his country (Image: Getty)
Trump has also attacked Merz on social media, writing Thursday that the German leader was “doing a terrible job” and had “problems of all kinds,” including immigration and energy. Trump has similarly suggested pulling U.S. troops from Italy and Spain.
Germany currently hosts more than 36,000 active-duty U.S. troops, according to figures cited from last December. The American bases are a major economic driver in areas near installations such as Ramstein Air Base, where thousands of German nationals work directly for the U.S. military, and additional jobs depend on the broader U.S.-linked local economy.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin still sees the U.S. military presence as mutually beneficial, while acknowledging the announcement was not a shock. “The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and particularly in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the U.S.,” Pistorius told the German Press Agency in Berlin.
He added that the prospect of the U.S. reducing troop levels in Europe and Germany “was foreseeable,” trying to soften the blow. U.S. forces have been based in Germany since World War II, when the western part of the country was divided into three occupation zones administered by the British, the French, and the U.S., respectively.
U.S. forces have had a constant presence in Germany since the end of World War II. (Image: Getty)
U.S. troops were primarily stationed in southern and southwestern Germany. During the Cold War, West Germany became a key front-line state and the American military presence swelled, peaking at more than 250,000 troops in the mid-1980s.
While those numbers have steadily declined since the end of the Soviet Union, Germany’s central location has remained strategically important for U.S. operations and NATO planning. Merz, for his part, said he has tried to keep relations with Trump functional even while disagreeing on Iran.
In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, he said, “I told Donald Trump why we consider the war in Iran wrong. I am nevertheless trying to maintain a good personal relationship with the American president.” Merz added, “So far, that effort is succeeding.
The German Chancellor’s comments were published on Wednesday, before the Pentagon publicly confirmed the troop reduction.