President Donald Trump has offered an eyebrow-raising explanation for reversing course on a planned troop withdrawal from Poland.
The 79-year-old president announced Thursday that he would be sending 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland, marking an abrupt U-turn after the Pentagon scrapped a deployment last week, as the Trump administration seeks to punish NATO allies for not joining in on the president’s war with Iran.
Trump said his decision was “based” on the election of Karol Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist and MAGA disciple, as Poland’s president. But Poland elected Nawrocki, 43, in June 2025—almost a year ago—leaving it unclear how that event factored into his about-face.
“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 on Truth Social.
When reached for comment on the post, the White House declined to comment, referring the Daily Beast back to the post.
The aging president frequently makes mental gaffes, and at times it appears that his sense of time is warped.
On Tuesday, the president claimed he had installed new White House flagpoles just “two months ago.”
“So I’m standing here and I’m looking at our great American flag, and it’s hard to believe, but I put that in two months ago and I put one on the other side,” he said.
In reality, Trump oversaw the installation of two nearly 100-foot flagpoles on the White House grounds in June 2025.
The Daily Beast has led the way in reporting on Trump’s deteriorating health and signs of cognitive decline since returning to office.
The president’s forgetfulness and his incoherent rambles have led multiple medical experts to question whether the president is ill with dementia.
Trump’s troop reversal comes after he faced blowback from Republicans over the Pentagon’s pause of a long-planned deployment of 4,000 service members to Poland last week.
The scrapped deployment caught U.S. military leaders in Europe off guard and angered GOP hawks in Congress, according to the Washington Post.
“We don’t know what’s going on here, but I just tell you we’re not happy with what’s being talked about, particularly since there’s been no statutory consultation with us,” House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers told Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve during a House hearing last week.
“It’s a slap in the face to Poland. It’s a slap in the face to our Baltic friends,” Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon said.
On Tuesday, however, Vice President JD Vance dismissed their concerns, calling the paused deployment of thousands of soldiers “a very small and very minor thing.”
“I think frankly a lot of the European media is overreacting to this a bit,” the vice president said, adding, “it is reasonable for Europe to take a little bit more ownership over its continental integrity.”
While Trump may have had a change of heart on Poland, the Pentagon announced plans to pull 5,000 troops from Germany earlier this month, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a withering assessment of Trump’s Iran war.
