Trump sends 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion on US presence in Europe
Donald Trump has said the US will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from the US president and his administration about reducing – not increasing – the American military footprint in Europe.
The Trump administration had said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and US officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer deploying to Poland.
Mr Trump’s social media announcement raises more uncertainty for European allies who have been blindsided by the changes after the US administration complained about Nato members not shouldering enough of the burden of their own defence and failing to do more to support the Iran war.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 21, 2026
The American leader posted on Truth Social: “Based 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.”
Mr Trump and the Pentagon have said in recent weeks that they were drawing down at least 5,000 troops in Germany after chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticised what he called a lack of strategy in the war.
The US president then told reporters at the beginning of the month that the US would be “cutting a lot further than 5,000”.
As of last week, some 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division were no longer en route to Poland.
The Associated Press reported that the cancelled deployment was part of an effort to comply with Mr Trump’s order to reduce the number of troops in Europe. A deployment to Germany of personnel trained to fire long-range missiles also was halted.
Democrats and Republicans alike criticised the reductions as sending the wrong signal both to allies and Russian president Vladimir Putin during the war in Ukraine.
Republican representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said during a congressional hearing that he spoke with Polish officials and said they were “blindsided”.
He called the decision “reprehensible” and said it was “an embarrassment to our country what we just did to Poland”.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said it was “a temporary delay” of the deployment of US forces to Poland, which he called a “model US ally”.
He said it was a result of the US reducing the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe from four to three and indicated the Pentagon still needed to decide which troops to station where.
It was not clear whether that meant the brigade would resume its deployment to Poland, if additional troops on top of that rotational deployment could be added, or whether there would still be a drawdown of US troops in Europe, but from a different country.
On Friday, US defence officials expressed confusion about Mr Trump’s new announcement.
“We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one official.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and defence under-secretary Elbridge Colby both spoke with their Polish counterparts this week. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk had said he was happy to hear “Washington’s declaration that Poland will be treated as it deserves”.
As of Tuesday, US general Alexus Grynkewich, commander of both American and Nato forces in Europe, told reporters in Brussels that “it will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe”.
Mr Trump’s announcement came as secretary of state Marco Rubio was on his way to Sweden to meet with his Nato counterparts, who have been questioning the Trump administration’s policies on reduced US troop levels in Europe.
“There seems to be no process to deliberating policies like troop withdrawals and deployments at the top,” said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat who served as US ambassador to Georgia during the Obama and first Trump administrations and now teaches international relations at Northwestern University in Illinois.
Mr Kelly said Mr Rubio may have a tough time in explaining the US president’s wild swings to Europeans who are craving certainty and consistency, even if they might disagree.
“These are not well-thought-out decisions,” Mr Kelly said. “These are impulsive decisions based on Trump’s whims or what his advisers think are Trump’s whims.”
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