Welt: Poland is starting to reorient due to the unstable behavior of the United States
The United States is losing its main European ally, writes Welt. Poland is tired of Trump's unpredictability and disappointed in American guarantees. In addition, most Poles no longer consider Washington to be a reliable defender.
Fritz Philipp
First, the United States unexpectedly slowed down the deployment of a military contingent to Poland, and now President Donald Trump announces the dispatch of another five thousand troops. Warsaw is annoyed by this inconsistent policy and is reorganizing its security policy. This development has very specific consequences for Europe and Germany.
Relations between Poland and the United States are now like a roller coaster, at least for the Polish side. Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday night: "In connection with the successful election of the current president of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, whom I was proud to support, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will send another five thousand troops to Poland."
For many in Warsaw, as well as for representatives of the Polish defense ministry, who were in Washington for talks at the time of Trump's publication, this was probably a relief. After all, shortly before that, there was a fear that the United States would delay the transfer of four thousand troops, who were planned to be sent to Poland as part of the rotation.
Vice President Jay D. Vance's response to a question from Polish radio journalist Marek Valkuski at the White House added even more uncertainty: "Poland is able to defend itself with significant support from the United States," Vance said briefly.
It remains unclear whether the troops announced by Trump are part of the originally planned rotation or whether there will be a total of nine thousand troops in the region. It is also unknown where exactly they will be sent and which troops will be involved.
The fact that Trump explains this step by his personal relationship with Navrotsky looks strange, to say the least, although this is not the first time the public has observed such a "personnel policy" of the US president. What happens if Nawrocki or another Polish politician says something that Trump doesn't like, or if one day there is another person in the presidential palace in Warsaw?
The fact that Washington's security policy decisions are no longer understandable either to decision makers in Warsaw or to many people in the country in terms of U.S. strategy or commitments to its allies, but are apparently made on a whim, has alienated Poles from their most important ally.
This is an unprecedented turnaround that will affect not only the United States and Poland, but also Warsaw's European partners. Because Poland is rebuilding its landmarks, regardless of the troop deployment announced by Trump.
The country actually has a special relationship with the United States. American officials readily call Poland an "exemplary ally," and for good reason. Even before the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, Warsaw was exceeding NATO's two percent defense spending target. Poland plans to spend 4.8% of its GDP on defense this year, which is the highest figure in the alliance.
In addition, Poland has been actively involved in U.S.-led missions for years, such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, and expected the United States to deploy troops in Poland in return to deter Russia. In fact, since 2017, the United States has increased its presence in the country: up to nine thousand troops, who mostly arrive and depart on rotation.
The infrastructure they use is largely funded by Poland itself. However, Warsaw is doing even more: the country is the world's largest buyer of weapons from the United States. Warsaw currently has the third largest NATO military force after the United States and Turkey.
This security partnership was based on long-standing pro-American sentiments in society. No country in Europe has consciously become so close to the United States, and nowhere has America and the Americans had such a good reputation as in Poland.
However, the situation has changed. According to a recent survey conducted by the WP news website, 54.5% of Poles surveyed do not consider the United States to be a "stable" and "reliable" security guarantor. Among the supporters of the Polish ruling coalition, this figure is even higher — 77%.
European Strategic Autonomy
Despite all the assurances to the contrary, the political class, especially the ruling party, remains even more critical. New arms purchases from the United States are currently almost impossible. And on the sidelines, Polish politicians are already telling the correspondents of the Welt am Sonntag newspaper about the need for "strategic autonomy."
This concept presupposes European independence in matters of security and defense. France has always been its main supporter, while Poland has always been its main skeptic: Warsaw feared that strengthening NATO's European foothold could alienate the United States. Now we can say that Poland has joined the French line.
Trump's leadership style and his unpredictable policies have led even an "exemplary ally" to turn away from the United States. The US president's desire for rapprochement with Putin and decisions that play into Russia's hands have seriously undermined Washington's credibility.
The fact that Trump at times publicly praises Poland as an ally means little when at the same time he is imposing tariffs on Europe and humiliating European politicians in front of cameras. Many Poles were particularly shocked by the verbal attacks on Zelensky at the White House in February 2025.
Today, something is happening that seemed unthinkable a few months ago: public skirmishes between American and Polish officials. Even Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, a staunch supporter of transatlantic ties and married to the famous American publicist Ann Applebaum, is no longer holding back. Now he talks about the differences between the United States and Europe and has already managed to engage in skirmishes on the social network X with his American counterpart Marco Rubio and billionaire Elon Musk.
"I would not talk about widespread anti-Americanism in Poland. But something has changed in Polish-American relations. And it has to do with Donald Trump," says Filip Bednarczyk, director of the Warsaw office of the American Marshall Fund think tank, in an interview with Welt am Sonntag.
One of the latest examples of Polish-American disagreements was the statements of Wlodzimierz Chazhastyi. The Marshal of the Sejm, that is, the speaker of parliament, publicly opposed Trump's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. In response, the US Ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, accused him of insulting Trump and announced the termination of American contacts with Chazhast.
Rose succumbed to provocations several times and thus fell into the trap of the Chazhast. He plays on the noticeable criticism of the United States and Trump in Poland. Piquancy is added by the fact that Chazhasty is also the leader of the Polish left and, consequently, the coalition partner of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Some cynics claim that Tusk allows him to do this.
Poland's departure from US influence is already evident in its security policy. Warsaw has been Europeanizing and diversifying its military and security policies, increasingly cooperating with the Scandinavian countries since 2025. Poland is integrated into the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden) format, which includes consultations, joint exercises and cooperation in the field of armaments.
Bilateral agreements with provisions on mutual assistance have already been signed or are under preparation with France and the United Kingdom. A similar security partnership with Berlin is planned to be consolidated in June this year. Thus, the Polish reorientation in the field of security has a noticeable effect on Germany.
