Pentagon cancels sending 4.000 troops to Poland

The Pentagon has canceled plans to deploy 4.000 U.S. troops from the United States to Poland, two U.S. officials said, a surprise decision that was sharply criticized by lawmakers and reopened questions about an expected reduction in the number of American troops in Europe under President Donald Trump.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the Army, confirmed the decision during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Friday. He offered little explanation, however, other than to say that “it made the most sense not to deploy that brigade to that theater.”

Joe Courtney, a Democratic congressman, told LaNiveau that the decision sends a “terrible message” about Trump’s commitment to Europe.

"Honestly, it's not just our adversaries who are paying attention. Our allies are paying attention," Courtney said.

The committee's top Republican, Mike Rogers, and top Democrat, Adam Smith, criticized the move and expressed outrage that Congress was neither notified nor consulted, as required.

"We don't know what's going on here, but I can only say that we are not happy with what is being said, especially because there has been no legally required consultation with us," Rogers said, warning that Congress would inflict "pain" on the Pentagon if it tried to go below the minimum number of troops in Europe.

Smith indicated that the Army had already sent an advance party of soldiers to Poland to prepare for the deployment and that equipment was already in transit when Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett's orders arrived.

"It's a pretty dramatic decision to pull a team you're trying to send there at the last minute. If there's a strategy behind that, then you should know it and you should be able to communicate it to us," Smith said.

The Pentagon announced two weeks ago that it was withdrawing 5.000 troops from NATO ally Germany, in part because of growing divisions between Trump and Europe over war with Iran. It was not clear whether the decision on Poland was intended to achieve that reduction while US forces reorganize in Europe, a US official told Reuters.

A US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said soldiers who were due to be rotated to Poland could instead come from elsewhere.

However, LaNiv declined to speculate on rotations of troops to Poland from other parts of Europe, saying that would be a decision by the commander of US forces in Europe.

Don Bacon, a Republican congressman from Nebraska, said he had spoken with officials in Poland and that they were taken aback by the decision, which he called "reprehensible" and "a disgrace to our country."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had received assurances that Poland's security would not be affected by any decisions on the presence of US troops.

"I have been assured, and this is also important to me, that these decisions are of a logistical nature and will not directly affect deterrence capabilities and our security," he said at a press conference on Friday.

The US is reviewing its military presence in Europe and has long been expected to reduce it following Trump's demands for NATO to take a greater role in Europe's defense. The Pentagon has not yet explained in detail how it envisions the future deployment of troops across the continent.

While lawmakers expressed outrage and confusion over the decision on Poland, the Pentagon said it followed a "comprehensive, multi-layered process."

"This was not an unexpected, last-minute decision and it would be inaccurate to report it that way," said Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez.

Trump is also angry that European allies have not joined the US war against Iran, and he has clashed with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who last month said the Iranians were humiliating the US in negotiations.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters that the decision on Poland appeared to come as a surprise.

"As far as I know, we were not informed about it," she told reporters.

When the withdrawal from Germany was announced, a senior US official said it would return the number of US troops in Europe to roughly pre-2022 levels, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted a reinforcement of the presence implemented by then-President Joe Biden.

The latest troop withdrawal decisions also come at a time of increasing pressure from Washington on European countries to increase defense spending and accusations that reliance on American forces has allowed them to neglect their own militaries.

Reuters last month exclusively reported on an internal Pentagon email that outlined options for punishing NATO allies that Washington believes have failed to support US operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from NATO and reviewing the US position on Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands.

Alarmed by Trump's earlier criticism of NATO, lawmakers from both parties last year supported a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, that prohibits the number of U.S. troops in Europe from falling below 76.000. Trump signed the measure into law in December.

However, the administration has some room for maneuver. The NDAA provision allows the president to reduce troop levels below 76.000 if he confirms that he has consulted with NATO allies and provides independent assessments of how doing so would impact U.S. security, the Alliance, and deterring Russian aggression.

Still, Rogers warned that his board would react if the administration tried to go below 76.000.

A senior NATO military official, commenting on the role of allied deployments, said that rotational forces are not key to the Alliance's planning.

“The rotational force does not enter into NATO’s deterrence and defense plans,” the official said. “NATO will continue to maintain a strong presence on its eastern flank, particularly Canadian and German troops there. The Alliance remains in close consultation with the relevant authorities on this matter.”

At the end of last year, there were about 85.000 American troops in Europe.