- Poland wants a permanent US presence, and the government has said its willing to pay for it.
- On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the US was "looking at it very seriously."
- Poland's interest is longstanding, and is of a piece with broader concern in the region about Russia.
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Poland says it's willing to pay $2 billion to build 'Fort Trump,' and Trump sounds interested in the offer
Poland has a longstanding interest in closer security ties with the US, and in the years since Russia's incursion in Ukraine, that interest has grown — now Poland is willing to cough up the cash to pay for it.
President Donald Trump is greeted by Polish President Andrzej Duda as he visits Poland during the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Warsaw, Poland July 6, 2017.
Poland said earlier this year that it was willing to pay up to $2 billion to help fund a permanent US military presence there — a proposal President Andrzej Duda reiterated during the country's Army Day celebration in August.
Poland has already met the 2%-of-GDP defense-spending level that the NATO allies agreed to work toward by 2024 — a spending goal that Trump used to bludgeon other NATO members. In August, Duda said he wanted to increase that outlay even more, reaching 2.5% of GDP by 2024.
After their Oval Office meeting, Trump told the press that they had discussed defense issues and praised Poland for recent military decisions, including the purchase of US-made Patriot missiles.
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"We are grateful for Poland's leadership on defense spending and burden-sharing in NATO," Trump said. "I am glad that it plans to increase spending beyond the 2% limit."
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