Poland Says US Has Decided on Permanent Military Base, Pentagon Still Won't Confirm It

Poland says yes, Pentagon says nothing yet

Poland's government spent this week in Washington telling anyone who'd listen that a permanent US military base is coming. Paweł Zalewski, secretary of state at Poland's Ministry of National Defence, told an audience Friday, September 25, that "we understand that decision has been made" on the US side. He repeated the line to RFE/RL the same day, saying talks with the Pentagon have moved past whether to build a base and are now about how.

Asked to confirm any of it, a Pentagon spokesman told Defense One: "We have nothing to announce at this time."

Polish deputy defense minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, September 24, that a final decision is expected by year-end, once the Pentagon's broader review of US force posture in Europe wraps up in November or December, according to Anadolu Agency. Marcin Przydacz, head of President Karol Nawrocki's International Policy Bureau, went further, telling Anadolu a decision had "already been reached at the political level," pending confirmation from President Trump himself. US Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby, who's overseeing that review, said Washington is "actively working" to strengthen its Poland presence, per the same Anadolu report.

What Poland is putting on the table

Warsaw isn't asking Washington to foot the bill. Zalewski told both Defense One and RFE/RL that Poland will cover infrastructure costs and pay $15,000 a year for every American soldier stationed there. "It's paid by the Polish taxpayers," he told RFE/RL. That's a real financial commitment from a NATO ally, not a symbolic gesture, and it's the kind of burden-sharing Washington has demanded from Europe for years.

The two governments have also sketched out an agreement to let US and Polish defense manufacturers run more joint ventures, though Zalewski said US export laws are still a hurdle. "What is needed to do is first to cut the red tape," he said.

Current numbers: roughly 10,000 US troops are in Poland now, mostly rotational, according to Epoch Times. Trump promised 5,000 more back in May but hasn't delivered them yet, something Zalewski acknowledged Friday without giving a reason. Polish deputy defense minister Stanisław Wziątek has floated a total closer to 15,000 troops if the base goes forward, per Notes from Poland.

The 'Fort Trump' question

Nawrocki, speaking in New York on September 22, said he hopes to see the base named "Fort Trump" and hopes Trump attends its opening personally. "I think that this matter is for sure confirmed because President Trump is famous for keeping his word," he told Bloomberg TV, a remark also carried by Fox News and Notes from Poland.

The name isn't new. Nawrocki's predecessor, Andrzej Duda, floated it in 2018 during Trump's first term. But Poland's current government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has not endorsed the naming idea, per Notes from Poland, and there's a political rivalry between Nawrocki, a conservative aligned with Trump, and Tusk's government, which handles the actual defense negotiations.

Why now: Russian incursions and Tusk's warning

The timing tracks a run of incidents Poland blames on Russia. A Russian Mi-8 helicopter crossed roughly 300 meters into Polish territory near Braniewo on September 22 and stayed 42 seconds before turning back, according to the Polish Army Operational Command as reported by Fox News. That followed a Russian drone striking a passenger train near the Ukraine border, per NPR.

Addressing Polish lawmakers, Tusk warned Russia may stage "accidental" drone or missile strikes on NATO territory specifically to test whether Article 5 "exists only in theory," NPR reported. He said he's received intelligence from NATO, Ukraine, and US agencies but didn't specify which, and stressed "there is nothing to suggest an invasion."

The tension critics will flag

Trump has simultaneously moved to draw down US troop levels elsewhere in Europe and, per Defense One, has invited Vladimir Putin to an upcoming G-20 meeting in Miami even as Russia escalates hybrid attacks on NATO states. Critics of expanding US commitments abroad could reasonably ask whether a brand-new permanent base in Poland squares with an administration otherwise signaling it wants Europe to handle more of its own defense. Zalewski insists Trump remains committed to a stronger NATO under what he called a "NATO 3.0" framework and said his conversations with US officials have been productive.

A separate, smaller decision could land first: Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said Poland expects word within days on its bid to host a European repair center for PAC-3 Patriot missiles, which Warsaw says would cut turnaround times from over a year to a few months. The bigger question, permanent basing, stays with Trump and the Pentagon's review, due to wrap by December.