Trump weighing relocating 2,000 troops to Poland

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is considering relocating 2,000 troops currently stationed in Europe to Poland.

The president stressed there has been no final decision on the matter, but said the service members would likely be drawn from Germany or another unspecified location if he goes through with the decision.

He insisted there would be "no additional troops to Europe" as part of any potential deployment.

"We haven’t totally made up a decision,” he said at the White House while hosting Polish President Andrzej Duda. “We haven't finalized anything."

Asked specifically about the possibility of opening a U.S. military base in Poland, Trump responded by saying that doing so "would certainly be a statement that the U.S. would be making."

He declined to specify whether such a base would be permanent because he does not publicly address "permanence or non-permanence."

Trump and Duda will participate in a joint signing ceremony regarding a likely defense agreement before taking part in a joint press conference.

An F-35 joint-strike fighter flew above Washington in a rare military display to mark the agreement and Poland's decision to purchase roughly three dozen of the advanced fighter jets.