President Trump pushing for permanent U.S. military base in Poland

Warsaw, Poland – According to Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, U.S. President Donald Trump might plan to announce a deal for the establishment of a permanent military base in Poland during a possible visit to Warsaw in September.

Citing anonymous U.S. sources, the Rzeczpospolita report (in Polish) writes that President Trump might come to Poland, to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, and announce a deal for the establishment of a permanent U.S. military base in the country if an agreement has been reached by that time.

More than a dozen other European and world leaders are expected to attend the commemorations planned in the Polish capital on September 1 – with the notable exception of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who didn’t receive an invitation.

U.S.-Polish negotiations have been intensifying lately, with both sides examining a range of options, from the establishment of a so-called ‘Fort Trump’ American base to increasing the size of U.S. forces already established in the country and changing the status of part of them from a ‘rotating’ to a ‘permanent’ presence.

The U.S. Pentagon has reportedly been scouting locations over the past several months to determine the details of a strengthened U.S. military presence in Poland.

Rzeczpospolita points out that the meeting and potential announcement could boost the popularity of both Donald Trump and the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), shortly before the kick-off of the U.S. presidential campaign and national elections in Poland.

According to the Polish daily, U.S. sources also hinted that Polish President Andrzej Duda might be welcomed to the White House in June. Duda already came for an official visit to the U.S. in September last year, famously suggesting to the U.S. President to call the new American base ‘Fort Trump’. Donald Trump also paid an official visit to Warsaw in July 2017.

One of the only NATO countries to spend more than 2% of GDP for its defence, Poland has been lobbying Washington for years to convince the U.S. to put more boots on the ground in an effort to deter Russian aggression – a controversial move that raised a few eyebrows in the U.S. and among EU and NATO allies.