After Backlash, Trump Says 5K Troops Will Go to Poland

President Trump said Thursday the US will send 5,000 more troops to Poland, appearing to reverse a Pentagon move that had angered Republicans in Congress. In a Truth Social post, Trump linked the decision to the recent election of Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he endorsed, and to what he described as a strong relationship with Warsaw, the Hill reports. The White House did not immediately clarify whether the new deployment involves the same 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, whose rotation to Poland was put on hold last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. That pause, which surprised US and some European officials, halted a long-planned deployment of about 4,000 troops.

Republican lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee had sharply criticized the delay. Chair Mike Rogers of Alabama told Army leaders at a hearing that the panel was "not happy" and complained of a lack of required consultation. Vice President JD Vance defended the pause as routine on Tuesday, telling reporters it was a "standard delay and rotation" and not a cut in US forces in Poland, while suggesting European media had overstated its significance and reiterating that Europe should assume greater responsibility for its own defense.

Coming after weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing—not increasing—the American military footprint in Europe, Thursday's announcement brought confusion. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House. A retired diplomat who served as US ambassador to Georgia during the Obama and first Trump administrations told the AP there seems to not be much of a process to deliberating US policies like troop withdrawals and deployments. "These are not well thought out decisions," Ian Kelly said. "These are impulsive decisions based on Trump's whims or what his advisors think are Trump's whims."