US President Donald Trump has said that Washington would send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, weeks after the Pentagon halted a planned brigade deployment that had alarmed officials in Warsaw.
Trump announced the move in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, linking the decision to the election of Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he said he had been “proud to endorse.”
Nawrocki, who is backed by Poland’s right-wing opposition Law and Justice party, won last year’s presidential election. The nationalist politician, who is aligned with Trump’s MAGA movement, visited the White House ahead of the May 2025 vote for talks with the US president.
The announcement comes amid growing uncertainty over the long-term US military posture in Europe. Last week, the Pentagon halted a planned deployment of around 4,000 troops to Poland in a move that caught Polish officials by surprise.
Trump did not specify whether the newly announced contingent would replace those forces or represent a separate expansion of the US military presence in the country.
US Vice President J.D. Vance said last Friday that the rotational deployment had been “delayed” and could instead be stationed elsewhere in Europe, adding that Poland was “capable of defending itself with a lot of support from the United States.”
Poland, which views Washington as its main security guarantor amid Russia’s war against Ukraine, hosts around 10,000 US troops — the second-largest American military presence in Europe after Germany — most of them deployed on a rotational basis.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon also announced plans to withdraw around 5,000 American troops from Germany. Warsaw had pushed to host some of the forces, arguing that Poland already has the infrastructure needed to accommodate additional US troops.
Trump did not specify whether the additional 5,000 troops would come from forces previously slated for withdrawal from Germany or represent a separate deployment.
However, when asked earlier this month about Poland’s desire to host troops leaving Germany, Trump told reporters: “Well Poland would like that. We have a great relationship with Poland.”
Poland has pushed for years to increase the number of US troops on its soil under both the previous right-wing administration and the current government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a centrist, viewing their presence as a key deterrent against Russia.