Leaders in Poland were reportedly blindsided after the Pentagon canceled the deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to the country. On Monday’s “Morning Joe,” Joe Scarborough said the decision is part of an emerging pattern from President Donald Trump and his administration.
“The theme here seems to be the embrace of enemies and the abandonment of allies,” he said.
“Soldiers and equipment from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, had already arrived in Poland to start a planned nine-month deployment on a mission to deter Russian aggression in Europe” when they were abruptly withdrawn, according to The Washington Post.
Earlier this month, the United States ordered the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany after Trump expressed frustration with what he views as insufficient support for his ongoing war with Iran.
The “Morning Joe” co-host said the canceled deployments would likely come as welcome news to America’s adversaries, most notably Russian President Vladimir Putin. Scarborough said the president was “abandoning” Germany and Poland while “sending very clear messages” to Putin.
Recommended
“The president is going all in with the losing side,” he said. “They’re upping the ante by abandoning Germany, by abandoning Poland, the country Putin would go to right after Ukraine.”
“If you just take a couple of steps back, you see a very clear pattern: the president being terrible to our closest historic allies — the same allies that helped us take down the Soviet Union — and embracing, actually, people who consider the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century,” he added.
But Scarborough said the decision likely didn’t come as a shock to America’s allies.
“They’ve seen all too much of this over the past decade from Donald Trump,” he said.
You can watch Scarborough’s full commentary in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”