White House gives 'green light' for permanent US troop presence in Poland, aide says

The White House has given a “green light” to shift the US military presence in Poland from rotational deployments to a permanent footing, a senior aide to Poland’s president said.

Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish presidential office’s International Policy Bureau, told Polish media that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described himself as “absolutely” in favor of the change during a roughly hourlong call. Przydacz said the White House’s political decision reflected not only overall US strategy in Europe but also strong Polish-US ties, which he linked to the rapport between the two presidents.

Przydacz also said Rubio reaffirmed former President Donald Trump’s pledge to send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland. However, he cautioned that the number would likely involve replacing a suspended armored brigade rotation rather than increasing total troop levels on top of current arrangements.

He said the final shape of the permanent presence would depend on strategy being developed by the Pentagon, and indicated that Poland’s priorities now are to press Washington and Warsaw’s defense ministry to turn the political decision into concrete steps. Przydacz added that senior Polish national security officials were scheduled to meet Pentagon leadership as part of that process.