Donald Trump has broken his silence on Russia’s drone attacks on Poland. Overnight, 19 Russian drones entered Poland’s airspace as part of a major aerial attack on Ukraine.
It is believed the attack was intentional, testing NATO’s Article 5, which established the principle of collective defence if one of its members are attacked. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said some of them were shot down by Polish and NATO aircraft. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote an unusually brief respone to the attack, leaving many question the meaning behind his words. He said: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” Meeting Tusk in the Oval Office last week, Trump pledged support for Poland, claiming he’d even be willing to send US troops to the country.
“We’ll put more there if they want,” Trump said during his talks with Karol Nawrocki. “But they’ve long wanted to have a larger presence. We have some countries that have more – not too many. But no, they’ll be staying in Poland. We’re very much aligned with Poland.”
According to the BBC’s White House reporter Bernd Debusmann Jr, Trump’s reaction shows mounting frustration with Russia. He said: “Trump’s Truth Social post on Poland was very short – but clearly indicative of mounting frustrations with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.” But his cryptic post will perhaps be clarified as soon as Trump speaks with Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki later today.
In the meantime, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham posted on X: “I completely agree with President @realDonaldTrump’s sentiment in response to Russia’s insane violation of Polish airspace for hours, deploying multiple drones.
“Mr. President, Congress is with you. We stand ready to pass legislation authorizing bone crushing new sanctions and tariffs that can be deployed at your discretion. Our goal is to empower you as you deal with this mounting threat.”
US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitacker wrote: “We stand by our NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations and will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett, former head of the Irish Defence Forces, suggested that Russia may have been “testing the strength” of Polish and NATO defences.
He added that the use of non-lethal equipment – such as the Gerbera drone, which is not typically used for direct attacks – could indicate an attempt to carry out the operation without causing injuries.