US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was sending 5,000 troops to Poland, after Washington said an earlier planned deployment had been called off amid pressure on Europe to fend for itself.
Trump said the move was based on his relationship with Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki, a nationalist ally whom he said he was “proud to endorse” in elections that Nawrocki won last year.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump did not give further details, but his comments appeared to refer to a deployment of several thousand US troops to Poland whose fate has been unclear for several days.
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Last week US officials said the deployment of 4,000 US forces to Poland had been scrapped, the latest move by Trump’s administration to slash troop numbers and punish NATO allies for not helping with the Iran war.
Then Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the deployment of the 4,000 troops had been delayed, not canceled, adding that Trump had not made a “final determination.”
Vance added however that Europe had to stand on its “own two feet,” as Trump continues his push to get European allies to take more of the burden for their defense.
Trump has appeared determined to punish allies who have failed to back the Middle East war or contribute to a peacekeeping force in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Iran has effectively closed.
The Pentagon announced at the beginning of May that Washington would pull 5,000 troops from Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Iran was “humiliating” the United States at the negotiating table.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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