US President Donald Trump has again signalled that a new permanent American military base could be established in Poland, telling reporters outside the White House that the project “could happen” and indicating that he personally supports the idea. His remarks come after months of negotiations between Warsaw and Washington but stop short of confirming a final agreement or location for the proposed base.
Trump was asked on Monday, 5 October what would happen next with plans for a permanent US base in Poland. “It could happen. They want it very much,” he replied, according to TVP Info and the Polish Press Agency. When reporters asked whether he also wanted the base, Trump praised Polish President Karol Nawrocki before answering in the affirmative.
The latest comments reinforce a statement Trump made on 17 September, when he announced that “major progress” was being made towards establishing a US Army base in Poland and said its location could be announced soon if the project went ahead. The wording remained conditional rather than constituting a formal announcement that the base had been approved.
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Poland has been seeking a larger permanent American military presence for years. In June, the Polish government formally authorised the defence minister to begin work towards establishing a permanent US military base, including consultations with Washington over its location, infrastructure, costs and financing.
Two days later, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the United States had responded positively to Poland’s proposal following discussions with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Polish Defence Ministry described the American response as positive, while noting that the project still required further work.
Marcin Przydacz, President Nawrocki’s senior foreign-policy adviser, said after talks in Washington last week that the plan had received a political “green light” from the White House but still had to be implemented by the Pentagon, Poland’s Defence Ministry and the two countries’ armed forces. He also said the details could depend on the Pentagon’s wider review of US force deployments.
The proposal requires some clarification because the United States already has both a permanent military structure and a substantial troop presence in Poland.
In 2022, Washington announced that the V Corps forward command post, an Army garrison headquarters and a field support battalion would be permanently stationed in Poland — the first permanently stationed US forces on NATO’s eastern flank. The US Department of Defense said at the time that those units would operate alongside a much larger rotational American force.
The following year, the US Army established US Army Garrison Poland at Camp Kościuszko in Poznań, describing it as its first permanent garrison in the country. The garrison manages American forward operating sites around Poland, while the majority of US troops deployed in the country continue to serve on a rotational basis.
Poland’s Defence Ministry says around 10,000 US military personnel are normally present in the country, primarily through rotational deployments.
The new Polish proposal therefore concerns a larger permanent military base rather than creating an American military presence in Poland from scratch. The eventual size, troop composition, location and financing arrangements have not yet been publicly finalised.
The concept has often been associated with the informal name “Fort Trump”, which first emerged during Trump’s first presidency when the Polish government proposed hosting a permanent US armoured division. Those earlier discussions did not produce such a base, although subsequent agreements substantially expanded American military infrastructure and personnel in Poland.
Trump was also asked on Monday about a proposal for a permanent American base in Lithuania. According to a transcript of his White House remarks, he said Washington would “certainly look at it”, while praising Lithuania and its people.
Lithuania already hosts US troops on a rotational basis, with continuous American deployments there dating from 2019. The country has invested in permanent military infrastructure capable of accommodating American armoured units, but the US personnel themselves have continued to deploy through rotations rather than being permanently based there.
Trump’s latest remarks therefore strengthen the political signal behind Poland’s proposed base, but the project remains in the planning and implementation stage. No final basing agreement, location or opening date has yet been announced.
