President Donald Trump announced the US will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, according to BBC; this comes a week after the Pentagon cancelled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to the country. Writing on Truth Social. Trump stated the decision was based on the US’s relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he supported during the presidential elections last year.

Trump’s ‘America First’ Agenda and Troop Reductions

The White House has indicated in recent weeks that it intends to reduce overall troop levels in Europe as part of its ‘America First’ agenda. Earlier this month. The US also announced it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany after a dispute between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war with Iran. Trump had previously criticized Merz for his comment that the US had been ‘humiliated’ by Iranian negotiators.

It is unclear whether the additional troops for Poland were part of those withdrawing from Germany or a separate group; Trump has also been critical of Washington’s NATO allies for their unwillingness to join the US in pressuring Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

Upcoming NATO Summit and Burden Sharing

Foreign ministers from NATO countries will meet in Sweden on Friday at a summit that includes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Rubio is expected to call for increased burden sharing from Washington’s NATO partners. Ahead of the meeting. The BBC asked him about unconfirmed reports that the US could shrink its total troop numbers available in the event of an attack on a NATO country.

Rubio said ‘some of those issues’ will be discussed at the summit, adding that Trump remained very upset and disappointed with NATO allies. Trump’s announcement on Thursday comes a week after the defense department abruptly said it was cancelling the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later said the cancellation was ‘a temporary delay’ of the planned deployment and the US will continue to ensure it ‘retains a strong military presence’ in Poland.

Poland’s Support for Trump and Regional Tensions

Nawrocki has long been a staunch Trump supporter and earned his endorsement before winning Poland’s presidential election. Speaking to the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme in January, the Polish president said Trump is the only world leader capable of stopping Vladimir Putin and ending the war in Ukraine. Despite Trump’s previous criticism of the NATO alliance and his European counterparts, Nawrocki insisted the US was still the guarantor of security in Europe.

Several Republican lawmakers have previously criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Germany, saying it risked sending the wrong message to Russia. The US military deployment in Germany is by far its biggest in Europe, currently at more than 36,000 active duty troops compared to about 12,000 troops in Italy and a further 10,000 in the UK.