Pentagon officials and European allies were caught off guard by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to halt the planned deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland, according to multiple U.S. officials consulted by Politico, a move that has intensified uncertainty about the Trump administration's military posture in Europe.
"We had no idea this was coming," one U.S. official said, describing a scramble among American and European officials over the last 24 hours to understand the decision and determine whether additional troop reductions could follow.
