Surprise for the Pentagon: Trump will deploy 5,000 soldiers to Poland

In a social media post that surprised Pentagon officials, Trump suggested he was making that decision “based on the successful election” of Karol Nawrockithe conservative nationalist president of Poland whom Trump endorsed in his election, almost a year ago.

Trump’s apparent reversal of the Defense Department’s decision was the latest in a series of stunning announcements that have stunned leaders in Poland, one of the administration’s staunchest allies in Europe, and sparked intense bipartisan criticism from lawmakers who said troop reductions in Eastern Europe would send the wrong signal to Russia.

The Pentagon declined to comment Thursday and referred questions to the White House.

This left many questions unanswered, including whether the military would have to reduce its troops elsewhere to meet Trump’s broader goal of having Europe take greater responsibility for security and allowing the United States to reduce its roughly 80,000 troops there.

The confusing situation began three weeks ago when the Pentagon announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany and their subsequent redeployment to the United States and other bases abroad.

He also canceled a plan developed during the Biden administration to deploy a missile-equipped artillery unit in Europe.

Those decisions came after Trump responded angrily to the German chancellor’s statements, Friedrich Merzwho claimed that Iran had “humiliated” the United States.

Merz questioned how Trump intended to end that conflict.

But last week, the Pentagon changed strategy and abruptly canceled the deployment of more than 4,000 troops to Poland, arguing that those troops — some of whom had already arrived in the country with their equipment — would be counted against the troop reduction announced in Germany.

That decision unleashed a wave of criticism among lawmakers and a series of frantic phone calls from Polish officials.

The Pentagon stated on Tuesday that the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegsethhad spoken with his Polish counterpart and that the planned reduction of troops in Europe would only mean “a temporary delay in the deployment of US forces in Poland, which is an exemplary ally of the United States.”

That temporary delay seemed to come to a screeching halt Thursday with Trump’s announcement on Truth Social.

Pentagon officials have said the reduction of about 5,000 troops — it is not yet clear from where — would return U.S. forces in Europe to the level they were at in 2022, before Russia began its war in Ukraine.

Last year, the Pentagon redeployed a brigade to Romania and did not send replacement forces.

NATO officials have stated that the reduction and realignment of US troops would not affect the alliance’s deterrence and defense plans, noting that Canada and Germany had already increased their forces on the alliance’s eastern flank.

In the statement issued Tuesday, Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, said the decisions made over the past three weeks, which have baffled allies, angered lawmakers and forced U.S. military commanders to search for acceptable options, were “the result of a comprehensive and complex process.”