Key facts
- Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland interprets Hegseth's remarks as a Pentagon green light for a permanent base.
- The project has not received formal US approval, and the Pentagon review of the US troop presence in Europe is expected to conclude by December.
- Trump is expected to make the final decision in early December, per Kosiniak-Kamysz.
- Poland hosts thousands of American troops, largely on rotating deployments.
- Tusk and Nawrocki, who have feuded over control of Poland's top court, agreed to cooperate on the base.
- Nawrocki has embraced the name Fort Trump, first floated by Andrzej Duda in 2018.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on November 10 that the Pentagon had given a green light to plans for a permanent US military base in Poland, speaking after talks in Washington with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Kosiniak-Kamysz said Hegseth told him that everything was moving in the right direction, and that Poland interprets that as a green light from the Pentagon. The project has not yet received formal US approval.
Poland already hosts thousands of American troops, largely on rotating deployments. Warsaw is pushing for a permanent base as the Pentagon reviews its military presence across Europe, a review expected to conclude by December. Other NATO allies fear Trump could withdraw thousands more troops from Europe.
President Donald Trump is expected to make a final decision in early December, according to Kosiniak-Kamysz. The project is also a rare point of agreement between Poland's feuding leaders: Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki, a Trump ally whom the US president backed in last year's election, agreed the previous week to cooperate on securing the base despite their confrontation over control of Poland's top court. Nawrocki has embraced the proposed name Fort Trump, first floated by his predecessor, Andrzej Duda, in 2018.
The US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.