(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said he would send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, reversing course on a plan to suspend an Army deployment to the country amid a feud with other NATO nations over what he saw as their refusal to help in the Iran war.<\/p>\n
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Trump announced the move Thursday on social media, citing the election of nationalist Karol Nawrocki as Poland\u2019s president. Nawrocki, who was elected president nearly a year ago, had been blindsided by the US announcement that it was suspending the deployment of a brigade combat team to Poland.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased 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,\u201d Trump posted.<\/p>\n
The decision marked an abrupt U-turn a week after the Pentagon paused plans to send about 4,000 Army soldiers to Poland even though some of them, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, were already on their way.<\/p>\n
A Pentagon spokesman, Joel Valdez, said it would be wrong to report that move as an \u201cunexpected, last-minute decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked for clarification about Trump\u2019s announcement, the Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
It was unclear where the forces would come from, when they would arrive, if they would be permanently stationed in Poland or be there on a rotational basis, and whether they would increase the overall US military contingent in Europe.<\/p>\n
The earlier move had elicited protests and expressions of puzzlement from members of Congress, NATO nations and military experts because Poland has been a close ally of Trump\u2019s and had nothing to do with his feud with other allies over the Iran war. Nawrocki later sought to reassure Poles that the US wouldn\u2019t reduce its military presence in the country.<\/p>\n
The dismay in Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine, reflected its position as one of the biggest spenders on defense relative to the size of the economy among NATO member states. Most of the funds have gone to buy US-made equipment including fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems. Nawrocki had won a pledge from Trump during their meeting in September at the White House that the US would not withdraw soldiers from Poland and could even increase their numbers from the current around 10,000.<\/p>\n
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Trump had earlier threatened to pull at least 5,000 troops from Germany and suggested a broader drawdown of the US\u2019s 85,000 military personnel in Europe was in the works. That followed a war of words with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said last month that the US was being \u201chumiliated\u201d by Iranian negotiators.<\/p>\n
Asked for an explanation about the change in deployment to Poland earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance had told reporters that it was a standard delay that would encourage European nations to do more to provide for their own security. He said Poland was capable of defending itself with support from the US.<\/p>\n
Earlier: NATO Nations Brace for Trump to Pull More Troops from Europe<\/p>\n
And an internal Pentagon memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US had canceled both the Poland deployment and a long-range fire battalion to Germany later this year, a person familiar with the matter said at the time. The memo mentioned that Europeans have failed to step up when America needed them and that Germany\u2019s rhetoric has been inappropriate.<\/p>\n
Adding to the confusion, the Pentagon said on Tuesday that it would permanently cut about 4,000 troops from Europe as part of its broader review of forces. That review was meant to push NATO allies \u201cto take primary responsibility for Europe\u2019s conventional defense,\u201d Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Tuesday evening. He echoed Vance\u2019s thoughts on the Poland decision, calling it a \u201ctemporary delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a senior military NATO official, the decision to scrap the earlier Poland deployment was motivated by the speed at which it could be executed given that canceling a rotation is easier than pulling out present troops.<\/p>\n
A few minutes before Trump\u2019s announcement that the US would send the 5,000 troops, Pentagon Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby posted pictures of himself shaking hands with Poland\u2019s Secretary of State Pawel Zalewski earlier Thursday.<\/p>\n
Poland \u201cstands out as a model ally and a leader among our allies,\u201d he said. \u201cWe look forward to working closely with Poland and to ensuring our presence in Poland remains strong and robust.\u201d<\/p>\n
At a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Sweden this week, allies plan to ask the US to avoid more surprise announcements about troop movements in Europe, according to a senior diplomat from a NATO country.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Courtney McBride, Andrea Palasciano, Piotr Skolimowski and John Harney.<\/p>\n
(Updates with NATO meeting, in final paragraph. An earlier version corrected the misspelling of Nawrocki\u2019s name, in eighth paragraph.)<\/p>\n
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