Fort Trump

Fort Trump is a proposed United States military base in Poland. The name "Fort Trump" was initially suggested by the Polish government as a name for the facility, however, officials of the Trump Administration have requested a different name be considered due to concerns the proposal could be incorrectly perceived as a vanity project and not a serious military proposal. "Fort Trump" has continued as a colloquial description of the project, or as an unofficial stand-in name for the proposed facility.

Fort Trump
 Poland
Site history
BuiltProposed

Background
The Fort Trump proposal was first publicly described by Andrzej Duda (pictured).

The United States deployed approximately 4,000 military personnel to Poland during the final years of the Presidency of Barack Obama with the stated intent of providing a tripwire force to guard against possible Russian expansion into Eastern Europe.[1] In September 2019, President of Poland Andrzej Duda visited Washington, D.C. to meet with President of the United States Donald Trump, where he first publicly broached the idea of an expanded American presence in the country.[1][2] During a press conference in the East Room of the White House, Duda stated:

... I would very much like for us to set up permanent American bases in Poland, which we would call “Fort Trump.” And I firmly believe that this is possible. I am convinced that such a decision lies both in the Polish interest as well as in the interest of the United States.[3]

Trump himself was initially reticent on the idea of "Fort Trump", saying only that it should be examined more closely.[1] However, the 116th United States Congress directed a study be commissioned on the proposal.[1] In March 2019, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood visited Warsaw to discuss details of the project.[1] The US diplomats also unofficially asked the Polish government not to use the term "Fort Trump" as it has been seen as politically controversial, with officials concerned the project could be perceived as a vanity project and not a serious military proposal.[4]

Later developments

In June 2019, Donald Trump ordered the movement of an additional 1,000 United States soldiers to Poland from Germany. Unlike the Fort Trump proposal, the transferred units would be based at existing Polish facilities.[5] The same month, Reuters reported that the Fort Trump proposal was dead after Polish and American officials couldn't agree on a funding arrangement, with Poland agreeing to contribute $2 billion to the project, less than requested by the Trump Administration.[6] Both the American and Polish governments denied the accuracy of the Reuters report, with Polish presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski describing it as "fake news" and United States Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher tweeting, in response to the story, that Trump and Duda's "vision for increased US presence in Poland will be even greater than originally outlined".[7] A United States Department of State spokesperson later emailed Reuters saying that talks for Fort Trump were proceeding on schedule.[7]

In August 2020, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed, on behalf of the United States, an agreement with Poland by which that nation would accept the redeployment of a further 5,500 American troops – including the forward command post of V Corps – with the potential for a 20,000-person surge capacity.[8] According to the BBC, the agreement "falls well short of ... Fort Trump ... [but] sends a clear signal about Mr Trump's preferences".[8]

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See also

References
  1. Hennigan, W.J. (March 13, 2019). "Fort Trump? The Pentagon Takes a Step Toward Establishing Base in Poland". TIME. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  2. Cowell, Alan (September 19, 2018). "Fort Trump? Poland Makes a Play for a U.S. Military Base". New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  3. "Remarks by President Trump and President Duda of the Republic of Poland in Joint Press Conference". whitehouse.gov. White House. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  4. Christensen, Carsten Sander (21 February 2020). Analyzing Political Tensions Between Ukraine, Russia, and the EU. IGI Global. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-79982-908-9.
  5. Myers, Meghann (June 12, 2019). "It's not 'Fort Trump,' but a US division headquarters heading to Poland". Military Times. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  6. Ali, Idrees (June 10, 2020). "U.S.-Polish Fort Trump project crumbles". Reuters. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  7. "Poland and U.S. Deny that Fort Trump Proposal is Bogged Down". Voice of America. Reuters. June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  8. "Pompeo signs deal to redeploy troops from Germany to Poland". BBC News. August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
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