US President Donald Trump has announced the deployment of an additional 5,000 American troops to Poland, just days after his administration paused a planned rotation amid a public dispute with Germany over the war in Iran.
In a post on Truth Social on May 21, 2026, Trump said: “Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland.”
The announcement followed a meeting in Washington between defence officials from both countries, including Polish Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk and the head of strategic planning at the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thomas Curtis.
Writing on social media, Tomczyk said the talks covered “the presence of American troops in Poland, cooperation between defence industries, new military technologies and the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank”.
The move marked a reversal of earlier signals. Two days previously, US Vice President JD Vance had told reporters that the Polish deployment had been delayed, describing it as “just a routine delay in the rotation [of troops] that sometimes happens in these situations”. Vance added that Trump’s foreign policy was not about “rewarding [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or punishing a country like Poland”.
The Pentagon last week paused the deployment of about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division to Poland, a decision that, according to US media reports, caught American defence officials and some European partners by surprise.
That move had followed an announcement earlier this month that Washington would withdraw approximately 5,000 troops from Germany. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the withdrawal was the result of a “thorough review” of force posture in Europe and would be completed over six to twelve months.
The German troop cut came after Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the US handling of the Iran war, telling students in Marsberg that Washington was being “humiliated” by Tehran and accusing US officials of entering the conflict without a clear strategy. Trump replied that Merz “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” and later said the US would be “cutting a lot further” than the initial 5,000 troops.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz welcomed Thursday’s announcement, writing on X that the decision “confirms that Polish-American relations are very strong” and that Poland was “a model and ironclad ally”.
The US currently has around 80,000 troops stationed across Europe, with some 10,000 in Poland, according to an analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations. The Trump administration has been reviewing its European military footprint amid the President’s repeated calls for NATO allies to take greater responsibility for their own defence.
