U.S. President Donald Trump surprised NATO allies by promising to send 5,000 extra troops to Poland just hours before Foreign Minister Marco Rubio meets with allied ministers in Sweden today amid deep divisions over the war in Iran.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, cited his relationship with conservative nationalist President Karol Navrotsky as a reason for his decision to send additional troops.
“Based on the successful election of the current President of Poland, Karol Navrocki, whom I am proud to have supported, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland,” Trump wrote in the post.
Polish President Navrocki thanked Trump for this decision.
“Good alliances are those that are based on cooperation, mutual respect and a commitment to our common security,” Navrocki wrote in the X.
“I thank US President Donald J. Trump for his friendship towards Poland and for the decisions, the practical dimension of which we see very clearly today,” Navrocki added yesterday, Thursday evening.
The decision to send additional troops to Poland confirms that Polish-American ties are “very strong and Poland is a model ally,” Defence Minister Vladislav Kosyniak-Kamiz added, also via X.
NATO chief Mark Rutte also said today that he welcomed Trump’s announcement to send an extra 5,000 troops to Poland, although he added that the trend was still towards a stronger Europe that relies less on the US for its defence.
“Let’s be clear: the path we are on – which is a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO, ensuring that over time, step by step, we are less dependent on just one ally … will continue,” Rutte said ahead of today’s NATO meeting in Helsingborg.
It was a surprising turnaround by the US president after weeks in which Trump has sharply criticised NATO members for not doing more to help the US-Israeli military campaign. He has said he is considering withdrawing from the alliance and has questioned Washington’s commitment to honour the mutual defence pact it has signed.
Before leaving for the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden, US Secretary of State Rubio said Trump was “very disappointed” in members of the alliance for not allowing the US to use bases on their soil for the war, naming Spain. “You have countries like Spain denying the US the use of these bases – then why are you in NATO? That’s a fair question,” Rubio told reporters in Miami. “To be fair, other countries in NATO have been very helpful. But we need to discuss that.”
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