The Trump administration has taken another step in its decision to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Europe and has canceled the deployment of 4,000 soldiers to Poland as part of a more ambitious plan to cut its military presence on the continent.
The decision deepens the rift between the United States and Europe regarding their traditional Atlantic alliance. Earlier this May, President Trump stated that he would withdraw more than 5,000 soldiers from Germany within a year, in response to statements by Chancellor Friedrich Merz in which he claimed that Iran was “humiliating” the United States in the ceasefire negotiation process.
Days earlier, Trump had also threatened Spain with withdrawing the Morón and Rota military bases as retaliation for the limited cooperation of Pedro Sánchez’s government in the Strait of Hormuz crisis and its reluctance to increase defense spending and its contribution to NATO.
The U.S. leader also stated that in the future “there would be many more.” The Pentagon has also confirmed on several occasions that its long-term goal is for European allies to assume most of the conventional defense burden and to reduce the military role of the United States on the continent.
The Pentagon has declined to provide more details about the cut affecting a European Union member like Poland, but U.S. officials told the Efe agency that the cancellation of the deployment of the Second Armored Brigade Combat Team of the First Cavalry Division, composed of more than 4,000 personnel, is part of a broader reconfiguration of the military presence in Europe and that additional measures are likely to be taken.
More than 10,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed in Poland on rotation, according to data from the Army Times portal, specialized in U.S. armed forces news. The same outlet reports that part of the advanced echelon of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team is already in Poland and that the equipment was in transit, according to the deployment plan.
Overall, U.S. bases and sites in Europe are spread across 31 permanent bases and 19 additional locations with Department of War access. The largest concentration of personnel is in Germany, with about 36,400 military personnel, followed by the United Kingdom with 10,156.
The withdrawal of the contingent from Germany would leave U.S. troops in Europe at about 80,000 soldiers, according to Department of Defense calculations, a figure similar to that before the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a briefing on the armed forces’ budget situation before Congress this Tuesday, neither Army Secretary Dan Driscoll nor General Christopher LaNeve, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, mentioned the cancellation of the deployment in Poland.
Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the highest-ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated in his opening remarks at the hearing that the Army faces a budget shortfall of at least $2 billion as a result of prolonged operations, including the deployment of the Army National Guard in Washington D.C. and units participating in U.S. border control.
According to ABC News, the Army’s budget shortfall is significantly greater than Reed’s estimate. In the report, Army officials told the outlet that the actual amount ranges between $4 billion and $6 billion.
