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Poland announces the Pentagon's green light for a permanent U.S. military base; the final decision belongs to the White House

Riana Gegiu

11 November 2026, 11:17

International

Foto: Shutterstock.com

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Poland has received an agreement in principle from the Pentagon to establish a permanent American military base, Warsaw’s Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced after Tuesday’s, November 10, meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington.

According to the Polish minister, Hegseth told him that the discussions were moving in a favorable direction. The Pentagon has not publicly confirmed the base’s formal approval in a separate announcement, however. The final decision is expected in early December, after the White House reviews the U.S. military posture in Europe.

The location and size of the future base have not yet been determined. American and Polish technical teams are examining several sites, while Warsaw has long sought a more permanent and substantial presence of U.S. forces, an objective previously known as “Fort Trump.”

Poland already hosts approximately 10,000 American troops, most deployed on a rotational basis, as well as the garrison in Poznań and the forward headquarters of the U.S. Army’s V Corps. Meanwhile, Washington and Warsaw have signed a letter of intent on defense industry cooperation, including the establishment of a maintenance center for PAC-3 missiles.

Romania has also proposed a permanent American base and submitted an investment offer to the White House, including at Mihail Kogălniceanu, but the amounts mentioned have not been officially confirmed.

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Context: Poland has been preparing for some time to expand the U.S. presence and discussing costs, including “Fort Trump”

Before Tuesday’s announcement, Warsaw had already discussed the idea of a permanent American base, assessing costs of more than 15 billion zlotys (approx. 3.8 billion euros) and considering several locations west of the Vistula: Wrocław, Poznań, Bydgoszcz, and Szczecin. The project, presented as “Fort Trump,” had been prompted by a proposal sent by the Polish defense minister to the U.S. secretary of defense, in the context of President Donald Trump’s promise to increase troop numbers in Poland.

Alongside the political negotiations, Warsaw also indicated a financial model: it offered to pay $15,000 annually for each stationed American service member, while also covering infrastructure costs, after discussions with the Pentagon had entered “the implementation stage.”

In the same direction of strengthening NATO capabilities, Poland had previously been selected to host the first European maintenance center for PAC-3 missiles used in Patriot systems, a facility estimated at approximately 227 million euros, which was said to reduce repair times and support the defense of NATO’s eastern flank.