By Our Correspondent

National News – Marco Rubio has moved to calm growing concerns among NATO allies following conflicting announcements by the administration of Donald Trump regarding American troop deployments across Europe.

The reassurance came during a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on Friday.

Rubio said the United States was reviewing its military presence in Europe in line with global security commitments, especially amid tensions in the Middle East involving Iran.

He explained that troop adjustments were being coordinated with NATO allies, even if some member nations were uneasy about the changes.

The confusion began after Trump announced plans to deploy an additional 5,000 US troops to Poland, only days after the Pentagon cancelled a separate deployment of 4,000 troops to the country.

Earlier in May, Washington also revealed plans to withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany following disagreements between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran conflict.

Trump said the latest troop deployment decision was influenced by his relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, a longtime supporter of the US leader.

However, officials did not clarify whether the new troops heading to Poland would replace those leaving Germany or represent an entirely separate operation.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged that Europe was gradually becoming less dependent on American military support.

Meanwhile, several NATO countries have increased defence spending in response to Trump’s repeated criticism of the alliance and demands for greater burden-sharing.

The US currently maintains tens of thousands of troops across Europe, including major deployments in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland, largely aimed at deterring Russian aggression since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.