Bonnie Cash / EPA
Trump rests Poles, NATO rests Europeans on withdrawal of troops from Germany. “The President has not said – although he could have said – that he will withdraw all troops from Europe; but Europe needs to support itself,” warned JD Vance.
After months of criticism of NATO and statements about the reduction of American troops in the Alliance’s European countries, North American President Donald Trump announced, on Thursday night, on the Truth Social platform, that he will send 5,000 soldiers to Poland.
“Following the successful election of the current president of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, whom I had the honor of supporting, and given our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland,” he declared in a brief message on his social network, Truth Social, without giving further details.
The US president referred to these troops as additional troops, but it was not immediately clear whether that meant new troops or whether Trump was reinstating an earlier plan to send 4,000 US troops, which was already planned but recently went by Washington.
“All’s well that ends well”, but…
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski thanked Donald Trump for announcing the deployment of 5,000 troops.
“I want to thank President Trump for the announcement (…) and for the fact that the presence of US troops in Poland is maintained more or less at pre-pandemic levels,” he said at a NATO meeting taking place in Sweden. “All’s well that ends well,” he said.
This Thursday, also the secretary general of NATO, Mark Ruttewelcomed the announcement, despite stressing that Europe must continue to strengthen its defenses to reduce dependencies.
“I welcome the announcement (…). But let us be clear: the path we follow is that of a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO, ensuring that, over time, step by step, we depend less on a single ally, as we have done for so long, which is the United States”, said Rutte, before the start of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
USA “cannot be the police of the world”
Or vice-president JD Vance had already declared on Tuesday that this shipment was postponed, not canceledwhile defending greater European autonomy in defense matters.
“We need more sovereignty and for Europe to stand on its own two feet. This continues to be our strategy in Europe,” said Vance during a press conference. When asked about the 4,000 soldiers, he replied: “It is a delay in troop rotation.”
Ruling out a total withdrawal of his country’s military personnel deployed in Europe, Vance nevertheless admitted a redistribution in their security interests and encouraging Europeans to take on more responsibilities.
“We’re not talking about withdrawing all U.S. troops from Europe. We’re talking about redistributing some resources to maximize U.S. security. I don’t think that’s bad for Europe; on the contrary, encourages you to take on more responsibility“, Vance said.
Speaking to journalists at the White House, Vance insisted that his country “cannot be the world’s policeman” and that he is trying to be “a good ally”.
“The President (Donald Trump) has not said – although he could have said – that he is going to withdraw all troops from Europe; however, Europe needs to support itself,” Vance said.
NATO rests Europeans on withdrawal in Germany
These US troop movements are being closely monitored, after the US President threatened to punish European allies who did not support his war against Iran. The Pentagon had already announced, in May, the Germany.
NATO assured this Thursday that the planned withdrawal of around 5,000 US troops from Europe does not compromise the Alliance’s deterrence and defense capabilities.
“I would like to emphasize that this decision does not affect the viability of our regional plans”, declared the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR), the US general Alexus G. Grynkewichafter a meeting of the NATO Military Committee, in Brussels.
According to Grynkewich, the redeployment of US forces is part of the new US National Defense Strategy and falls within the concept informally designated as “NATO 3.0”.
“As the European pillar of the alliance strengthens, this allows the US to reduce its presence in Europe and limit itself to providing only those critical capabilities that allies cannot yet offer,” explained Grynkewich.
The US commander added that a gradual redistribution of US forces “over time” will be “expected”, as European allies strengthen their military capabilities and fulfill the investment commitments made at the NATO summit held in The Hague last year.
The announcement of the withdrawal was interpreted as a reaction to criticism by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the lack of US strategy in the conflict with Iran and the “” result for Washington.
At the moment, the United States maintains more than 36,000 military personnel deployed in Germanyspread across several strategic installations, including the Ramstein air base, the headquarters in Wiesbaden, and the Grafenwohr and Hohenfels training centers in Bavaria.
Grynkewich explained that the 5,000 soldiers to be withdrawn mainly belong to an armored brigade deployed in Europe since 2022, as well as a long-range artillery battalion whose deployment was even announced but ended up not advancing.
The general argued that NATO’s strategic situation has changed significantly since then, recalling the strengthening of the military capabilities of the Baltic countries, Poland and other European allies and highlighting NATO’s multinational brigade in Latvia, led by Canada, as well as the German military reinforcement in Lithuania.
Germany and beyond
Trump stated that this reduction could be greater and, at the beginning of this month, that it was also considering withdrawing troops from Italy, after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV from the North American leader’s attacks.
Trump administration officials have also alluded to a possible withdrawal of bases in Spainwhich prohibited the use of US facilities in the country in the context of the war against Iran.
