Trump, in a Truth Social post, cited his relationship with Poland’s conservative nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, as the reason behind his decision ​to send additional troops.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has welcomed the United States’ decision to send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, calling it an important reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank amid continuing security concerns linked to Russia.
The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would deploy the troops following talks with Polish President Karol Nawrocki. Around 10,000 American troops are already stationed in Poland.
Rutte said NATO military commanders were working through operational details ahead of a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Sweden. The move is seen as strengthening NATO’s defenses near the alliance’s border with Russia and Belarus.
The decision follows confusion earlier this week after reports that the Pentagon had delayed or reconsidered some troop deployments in Europe as part of a broader review of U.S. military commitments abroad. Several NATO allies had expressed concern about possible reductions in American forces on the continent.
The White House has signalled in recent weeks that it intends to reduce its overall troop levels in Europe as part of its “America First” agenda.
Rubio is expected to call for increased burden sharing from Washington’s Nato partners at Friday’s talks in Helsingborg.
Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, he said: “The president’s views are frankly disappointment at some of our Nato allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East.
“In the meantime there are other areas where we continue with cooperation,” he added – citing the Poland announcement.
“That said obviously the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment and that constantly requires us to re-examine where we put troops – this is not a punitive thing.”
Ahead of the meeting, the BBC asked Rubio about unconfirmed reports the US could shrink its total troop numbers available in the event of an attack on a Nato country.
He said “some of those issues” will be discussed at the summit, adding Trump remained very upset and disappointed with Nato allies.
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