President Donald Trump has said that he will consider establishing an American military base in Lithuania, with the Baltic country’s prime minister saying Vilnius would be prepared to pay the cost of setting it up.
Asked during a press briefing on Oct. 5 if he would consider the move, Trump said, “We’ll certainly look at it.”
“Lithuania … I know so many people in that country,” Trump said. “They’re great people.”
Last week, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius told Bloomberg that his country would “definitely” be in favor of a permanent U.S. military base.
“We would like to actually have the American troops … with a permanent stationing,” Sinkevicius said on Sept. 29. “We are ready to pay the bill, if that’s the case.”
Lithuania is a member of NATO and borders Russia and Moscow’s close ally, Belarus. The United States has kept an armored battalion of almost 1,000 troops in the Baltic nation since 2019 in overlapping rotations, meaning the troops arrive and leave every few months.
Sinkevicius reiterated his support on Oct. 6 for a permanent stationing of U.S. troops, writing in a Facebook post that he was “glad this idea is being taken seriously. Appreciating the contributions of allies to our security.”
“The partners only need to make a political decision on permanent deployment of soldiers and Lithuania is ready to cover the related financial costs,” he said.
US Army Base in Poland
The calls by Lithuania to have a permanent U.S. base follow Trump last month saying that significant steps had been taken toward setting up a U.S. Army base in Poland, also a NATO country.
Trump said it would be a “historic step” for the two nations. The U.S. Army Garrison Poland currently has a presence, but not a permanent base.
“GREAT NEWS! Thanks to the bold leadership of my friend, Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, major progress is being made toward establishing a U.S. Army base in Poland,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sept. 17. “If this happens, the location will be announced very soon.”
In response to Trump’s announcement, Nawrocki thanked him for his strong commitment to the U.S.-Poland partnership.
“We are ready to continue our efforts to strengthen our defense cooperation: seriously, responsibly, and always together,” he said on X at the time. “I can assure you that the Polish government will do its utmost to provide the best possible location for the US Army base.”
In August, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski said Warsaw was holding discussions with Pentagon officials about establishing several U.S. military bases in the country.
About 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Poland.
Timothy Frudd and Reuters contributed to this report.
