Jo Harper
15 May 2026•Update: 15 May 2026
After reports that the United States had canceled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday the move was “purely logistical” and posed no threat to national security.
“I received assurances that these decisions are of a logistical nature and will not directly affect deterrence capabilities or our security,” Tusk told reporters. “Everything is under control.”
The comments came after US media reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had halted a planned nine-month rotational deployment to Poland involving soldiers from the Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division.
According to Army Times, troops were preparing for deployment when the operation was abruptly suspended, prompting confusion among US and European officials over whether the move reflected a broader shift in Washington’s military posture toward Europe.
Poland’s defense minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, also attempted to calm concerns, arguing that “nothing is changing” regarding the American military presence in Poland.
“This issue is not about Poland,” Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on US social media platform X, linking the move instead to an earlier US decision to reduce troop numbers in Germany by around 5,000 personnel.
“Now the implementation of that decision is underway,” he said, adding that the process “may indirectly influence decisions regarding rotations.”
Poland currently hosts around 10,000 US troops on a rotational basis, making it one of Washington’s largest military hubs in Europe and a cornerstone of NATO’s eastern flank since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Warsaw has invested heavily in military infrastructure and defense spending, allocating close to 5% of GDP to defense this year — the highest level in NATO relative to economic output.
Trump said last week he “might” relocate troops withdrawn from Germany to Poland, reinforcing hopes in Warsaw that the country could become an even more important US military hub.
However, reports of the halted deployment triggered unease among NATO allies already concerned about Washington’s strategic priorities and the possibility of a reduced American military footprint in Europe.
The decision drew criticism from some American security figures.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges told Politico that the US military presence in Europe exists to “deter the Russians, protect America’s strategic interests and assure allies.”
“And now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone,” Hodges said, noting that Poland has consistently been among Washington’s most loyal NATO allies.
