{"id":1092,"date":"2026-05-22T09:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1092"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:04:09","slug":"nato-allies-bewildered-by-trumps-about-face-on-us-troop-moves-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1092","title":{"rendered":"NATO allies bewildered by Trump\u2019s about-face on US troop moves in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) \u2014 NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment on Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after he had ordered 5,000 troops to be pulled out of Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1090\">Wet weather returns and stays for Memorial Day weekend in central NC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,\u201d Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. defense officials were also confused. \u201cWe just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don\u2019t know what this means either,\u201d said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on Truth Social, Trump said \u201cI am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland.\u201d He said this was due to his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.<\/p>\n<p>The apparent change of mind came after weeks of conflicting statements from Trump and his administration about reducing \u2014 not increasing \u2014 the American military footprint in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>NATO allies have been blindsided, despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments. \u201cWe\u2019re going to stay well-synchronized with our allies moving forward,\u201d NATO\u2019s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, promised on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump\u2019s latest move but underlined that these matters should happen in a \u201cstructured\u201d way. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Bra\u017ee said allies knew the U.S. troop \u201cposture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now. So we will see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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 no longer deploying to Poland. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1085\">Rare public appearances, low profile mark Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s life since stepping down as Cuba\u2019s president<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Grynkewich said that \u201cseveral hundred\u201d more troops would be shifted elsewhere, without elaborating. The commander of the world\u2019s biggest military alliance said he had huddled with defense chiefs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland at NATO headquarters to discuss options.<\/p>\n<p>It all started as Trump fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had said that the U.S. was being \u201chumiliated\u201d by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in the war.<\/p>\n<p>Trump then told reporters that the U.S. would be \u201ccutting a lot further than 5,000.\u201d He also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent\u2019s biggest auto producer.<\/p>\n<p>About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.<\/p>\n<p>The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe might not be changed at all. The forces that were already rotating into Poland from Germany are likely to continue doing so. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision, and said it ensures that \u201cthe presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. \u201cWe have a process in place. This is normal business,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s NATO meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, was aimed at preparing for a summit of Trump and his counterparts in Turkey in July.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1083\">Serbia\u2019s protesting students renew pressure on Vucic with a big weekend rally<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Cook reported from Brussels. Emma Burrows in London contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) \u2014 NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment on Friday at U.S&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NATO allies bewildered by Trump\u2019s about-face on US troop moves in Europe - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1092\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NATO allies bewildered by Trump\u2019s about-face on US troop moves in Europe - 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