The United States isn’t retreating from Europe into isolation, as some critics of the Trump administration claim. It is advancing in a different direction, and it is beginning where it should, by backing Poland as an important U.S. ally.On June 12, the administration announced a new $4 billion loan to Poland through its foreign military financing program. Undersecretary of State Thomas DiNanno told the Polish Press Agency that the U.S. would provide funds for arms purchases, raising the total military credit available to Poland to $20 billion.The same day, Poland’s first F-35 fighter jets made their inaugural flight across the country. Poland is the first Eastern NATO member to receive the planes. Their flight, along with the hefty credit increase, underscores a new national security reality.
America is betting big on Poland, and for good reason.
In May, the Department of War announced that it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany. The move led some commentators to speculate that the U.S. was “abandoning” Europe, and perhaps even retreating into isolationism.
Neither claim is true.
President Donald Trump has adopted the age-old wisdom that it is best to help those who help themselves. This is both common sense and sound strategy.
