{"id":339022,"date":"2026-05-22T18:43:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=339022"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:43:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:13:42","slug":"nato-allies-bewildered-by-trumps-moving-of-troops-in-europe-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/nato-allies-bewildered-by-trumps-moving-of-troops-in-europe-national\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO allies bewildered by Trump\u2019s moving of troops in Europe – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NATO allies and defence officials expressed bewilderment on Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after he ordered the identical variety of forces pulled out of Europe.<\/p>\n

The apparent change of mind got here after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing \u2014 not increasing \u2014 the American military footprint in Europe. Trump\u2019s initial order set off a flurry of motion amongst military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America\u2019s commitment to Europe\u2019s security to ponder what forces they may should backfill on NATO\u2019s eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were now not deploying to Poland. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fireside long-range missiles was also halted.<\/p>\n

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But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would send \u201ca further 5,000 Troops to Poland,\u201d citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s confusing indeed, and never all the time easy to navigate,\u201d Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters at a gathering Friday that she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n

Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump\u2019s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Bra\u017ee, who said allies knew the U.S. troop \u201cposture was being reconsidered, and now there isn’t a change of posture. For now.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. defence officials also expressed confusion. \u201cWe just spent the higher a part of two weeks reacting to the primary announcement. We don\u2019t know what this implies either,\u201d said one among two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate sensitive military matters.<\/p>\n

But Rubio played down the difficulty. He said that \u201cthe US continues to have global commitments that it needs to fulfill when it comes to our force deployment, and that continually requires us to reexamine where we put troops.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tTrump’s vow to withdraw US forces got here after Merz criticized the US\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The most recent surprise got here despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO\u2019s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Trump\u2019s initial announcement that he would withdraw troops got here as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being \u201chumiliated\u201d by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a scarcity of strategy in that war.<\/p>\n

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Trump told reporters that the U.S. can be cutting even greater than 5,000 and in addition announced recent tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent\u2019s biggest auto producer.<\/p>\n

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