İlayda Çakırtekin
15 May 2026•Update: 15 May 2026
Pentagon officials were unaware of the recent decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 US troops to Poland, Politico reported Thursday.
“We had no idea this was coming,” a US official reportedly said, stressing the European and American officials had been spending the last 24 hours on the phone trying to understand the decision and figure out if more surprises are coming.
The remarks follow a report by The Wall Street Journal saying that more than 4,000 US troops scheduled for deployment to Poland as part of a planned rotation had their movement paused, with some personnel and equipment already on the way to Europe.
Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the US Army in Europe, reportedly said the army’s role in the region “is all about deterring the Russians, protecting America’s strategic interests and assuring allies.”
“Now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone,” he said.
He also said the Poles never criticized President Donald Trump, adding: “They do all the things that good allies are supposed to do … And yet, this happens.”
Joel Linnainmaki, a former Finnish official, described the decision as a “major challenge” to Europe’s security and “a severely disrupting way of shifting responsibility to Europeans.”
“For allies next to Russia it will have to change their calculus,” he added.
Both Poland and Finland have long borders with Russia – with Finland, the longest of any NATO country.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon also announced plans to withdraw around 5,000 troops from Germany.
That announcement followed Trump’s spat with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his criticism of the White House’s handling of the US war with Iran.
Trump has proposed multiple times withdrawing US troops from Europe, suggesting that the continent is not doing enough to defend itself.