President Trump on Thursday night pledged to send an additional 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland, a reversal that came one week after the Pentagon scrapped a planned deployment of 4,000 personnel to the same NATO frontline state and on the eve of a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Sweden.

The announcement, posted on Truth Social, restores American force levels in Poland that eastern NATO members had feared were being drawn down. It also hands Secretary of State Marco Rubio a softer hand as he meets counterparts Friday in Helsingborg to press allies on defense spending and on European reaction to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

What Trump said

"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 wrote, citing his ties to the right-wing president he backed last year.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Friday the move ensures that "the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels." Poland spent an estimated 4.48 percent of GDP on defense in 2025, the highest share in NATO.

The week before

The pledge is a sharp pivot from the posture struck days earlier. The Pentagon last week canceled a 4,000-troop Poland deployment and said Tuesday that the country "has shown both the ability and resolve to defend itself," adding "Other NATO allies should follow suit." The Pentagon also said Tuesday it would cut U.S. combat brigades in Europe from four to three. Earlier this month, Trump announced he was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany and would be "cutting a lot further than 5,000."

Rutte's pitch

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking in Helsingborg, welcomed the deployment and argued that European members are accelerating toward the 5 percent of GDP spending target the alliance adopted last year. Rutte told reporters that "the money is really coming in," with commitments amounting to "hundreds of billions [of dollars] of extra defense spending" over the coming years. NATO data show the U.S. spent an estimated $845 billion on defense in 2025, more than the rest of the alliance combined.

Rubio, before the talks, signaled the meeting would not paper over Washington's grievances. "The president’s views, frankly disappointment, at some of our NATO allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East – they’re well documented – that will have to be addressed," he said, adding that "that won’t be solved or addressed today."

Confusion in the capitals

Not every ally is reading the announcement as reassurance. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, the meeting's host, told reporters of Washington's recent moves: "It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate." One U.S. defense official, quoted by the Associated Press in Al Jazeera's account, said of the latest reversal, "We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either." Al Jazeera reported it remains unclear whether the troops bound for Poland are the same soldiers cut from the earlier plan or redeployments from Germany. The Pentagon has not said when they will arrive, or from where.