- 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.
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.
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.
"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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