Donald Trump to send 5,000 troops to Russia's front door in major Nato U-turn

Donald Trump is set to send thousands of troops to Russia's front door in what looks to be a major U-turn on his plans for Europe.

The President will support Poland by deploying an additional 5,000 troops to the country, which shares a 130-mile border with Russian exclave Kaliningrad.

Mr Trump cited his relationship with its President, Karol Nawrocki.

"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," Mr Trump said in a statement.

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The announcement was made two days after JD Vance had said a deployment of troops to Poland had been delayed.

The Vice President said 4,000 troops were result of a "standard delay in rotation", with Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell adding that it was a result of reduction of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe to three from four.

It remains unclear whether the new 5,000 figure will include those 4,000.

The delay drew the fury of Republicans in the States - one, Don Bacon of Nebraska, said he had spoken to Polish officials who had been "blindsided".

He called the decision "reprehensible" and said it was "an embarrassment to our country what we just did to Poland".

It had been expected the US would scale back its military presence in Europe after it called for Nato to take a larger responsibility in defending itself.

Mr Trump has described the European military alliance as a "paper tiger" multiple times, after countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain refused to grant the US access to their bases and airspace in the early stages of the Iran war.

Some 5,000 troops have already withdrawn from Germany, after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Americans had "no strategy" in the Middle Eastern conflict.

The additional troops have arrived just as Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed the "shifting balance of responsibilities", with Europe and Canada both investing more in defence.

"We will continue to see this transformation to a stronger Europe in a stronger Nato: Nato 3.0," Mr Rutte said.

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He also called for Nato allies to push ahead and spend five per cent of their GDP on defence by 2035 - calls which have been backed in Britain by multiple senior military leaders.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to boost spending up to 2.5 per cent of GDP from April 2027, with an aim to reach three per cent in the future.

Mr Trump met Mr Nawrocki at the White House in May last year, endorsing him before the election - where he defeated Rafał Trzaskowski of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's party.

Mr Tusk had previously warned Nato was "disintegrating", and called for a reversal of the trend.

The two met again at the White House in September, and said the US could increase its presence in Poland and pledged to secure the country's defence.

Mr Nawrocki, a former academic, stood as an independent in the 2025 Polish Presidential election, but was supported by the conservative Law and Justice party, with a campaign platform described as "patriotic, pro-Christian, pro-Nato, pro-Western, and pro-Donald Trump".

He has also opposed Ukraine's entry into Nato, and the deployment of Polish troops into Ukraine.

The US decision to delay troops days ago was criticised by Congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Joe Courtney, a Democratic lawmaker for Connecticut said it sent a "horrible message" about the US's commitment to Europe.

"Frankly, it's not just our adversaries that are paying attention. It's our allies," Mr Courtney said.

And Mike Rogers, a Republican representative, said he was "not happy" Congress was not consulted on the decision.

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