The United States will be sending an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
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.
The announcement comes two days after US Vice President JD Vance told reporters a US troop deployment to Poland had been delayed.
The US had been reviewing its troop presence in Europe and had long been expected to scale it back following demands from Trump that NATO take a larger role in the defense of Europe.
"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 said in the post.
Trump hosted Nawrocki at the White House in May last year and backed him at a crucial moment ahead of the Polish election in which Nawrocki went on to defeat the candidate of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European, centrist party.
He met Nawrocki again at the White House in September, and said at the time that the US could increase its troop presence in Poland and pledged to secure the country's defense.
Meanwhile, Polish President Karol Nawrocki thanked Trump for his decision to send additional US troops to Poland.
"Good alliances are those based on cooperation, mutual respect, and a commitment to our shared security," Nawrocki wrote on X.
"I thank U.S. President Donald J. Trump for his friendship toward Poland and for the decisions whose practical dimension we see very clearly today," Nawrocki added on Thursday night.
The decision to send additional soldiers to Poland confirms that Polish-American ties are "very strong, and Poland is a model ally," Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz added, also on X.
Earlier, Polish authorities had been alarmed by reports that the Pentagon had cancelled plans to deploy troops there, but they offered reassurances to Poles that this was not the case.
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