Trump says 5,000 more troops headed to Poland in whiplash reversal

President Donald Trump said this week that another 5,000 troops would deploy to Poland, an apparent backpedal from an earlier threat to reduce U.S. military presence in the country, as his administration has floated pulling American forces from Europe to punish countries for not supporting his war in Iran.

Days after the Pentagon said it would reduce the number of troops in Europe to levels not seen since before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Trump abruptly announced May 21 he'd be sending roughly the same number of troops to Poland, in an apparent switcheroo.

"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," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The comments appeared to contradict the Pentagon's announcement two days earlier that it would cut the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe from four to three, effectively canceling the scheduled rotational deployment to Poland of around 4,000 Army troops currently stationed in Texas. The reduction was aimed at "incentivizing and enabling our NATO allies to take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense," according to a May 19 Pentagon statement.

In recent weeks, Trump has threatened European leaders that he would reduce the U.S. presence (roughly 85,000 troops) in Europe to punish allies for not sufficiently backing his war in Iran. Earlier this month, the military said 5,000 U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Germany. This announcement came shortly after Friedrich Merz, the country's president, said Iran had "humiliated" the United States in the war.

Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth have lambasted European countries for not doing more to help release Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel that Tehran seized in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli joint attack in late February.

It's unclear whether the additional 5,000 troops headed to Poland would come from the same Army unit initially scheduled to deploy or from another unit entirely. The Pentagon referred USA TODAY's questions to the White House, which responded with a link to Trump's Truth Social post that simply said the troops would be deployed.

Trump administration officials have downplayed the decision or any suggestion that the administration had contradicted itself. Speaking to reporters May 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio chalked up the floated troop reductions to the administration "constantly reevaluating the threat matrix in the world."

"None of this is surprising, although I understand why it creates some nervousness," Rubio said.

"There's a broad recognition that there's going to be less troops in Europe than there have historically been."

Vice President JD Vance told reporters the day of the announced cuts to troops in Poland – before Trump's announcement on Truth Social – that "we're not talking about pulling every single American troop out of Europe. We're talking about shifting some resources around in a way that maximizes American security."

"I don't think that's bad for Europe, that's encouraging Europe to take more ownership," he added.

Vance also characterized the change as a "delay" in troop movements. "Those troops could go elsewhere in Europe," he said.

Becca Wasser, who heads research on defense issues at Bloomberg Economics' geoeconomics team, said the Pentagon may have gotten ahead of Trump in rebuking Poland, a country that has maintained a chummy relationship with the Trump administration.

"There's a disconnect between the Pentagon and the White House," she said.

"In an effort to try to get Europe to take more responsibility for their own security and, in many respects, punish various countries in Europe, the Pentagon ended up punishing a country that President Trump has held up as an example of a model ally."

Wasser said the move may have been recommended by the Pentagon's Global Posture Review, a document that the Trump administration, for the first time in decades, decided not to publicize, Politico reported.

"There's a different level of comfort when it comes down to removing troops from Germany than there is from Poland," she said.

Congress angered by Europe troop cuts

Trump's threats to cut troops in Europe have stirred up a furor among lawmakers, including Republicans, who have eyed his threats with growing concern. Any such orders are limited by Congress, which mandated in this year's defense policy bill that the number of American troops on the continent cannot drop below 76,000.

"We don’t know what’s going on here, but I can just tell you we’re not happy," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told Army leaders at a budget hearing last week after news of the cuts broke.

"The careless decision to reduce our force posture in Europe, along with moves by Pete Hegseth and his political henchmen to force out some of our finest general officers is amateur hour at best and deadly at worst," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, wrote in a post to X on May 16, referring also to the firing of Army chief of staff Randy George.

The withdrawal of troops from Germany would scale back a buildup of U.S. troops in Europe implemented by the Biden administration in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It will probably have "limited" impact, given that at least 36,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, according to a Bloomberg analysis by Wasser and other analysts. But the move would likely halt the deployment of a U.S. Army battalion specializing in long-range fires, unique military capabilities that Europe would struggle to backfill with its own troops, according to the analysis.

Hegseth and other Trump administration officials have repeatedly upbraided European allies for not pulling their weight in defense spending. Following Trump's demands, NATO agreed last year to increase the amount that each country spends on defense to 5% of its GDP.