US troop rotations heading back to Lithuania amid high tension in Europe, Baltic leader says

President Gitanas Nauseda thanked his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, for sending the new the rotation. The deployments began in 2019, and Lithuania has hosted rotational Army battalions of about 1,000 soldiers.

Lithuanian officials said that a new rotation of U.S. troops was on its way to the country. U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment participate in a training exercise at Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, May 8, 2026. (Max Elliott/U.S. Army) The next rotation of U.S. service members in Lithuania is already on its way, the Baltic country’s leader said Tuesday in a social media post, resolving at least some of the uncertainty over American troop levels in the NATO ally bordering Russia. Army officials in Europe said the move is part of a planned rotation in Europe that was announced last month. In August, the Army said a brigade from the 1st Infantry Division was headed to Europe to replace another brigade that was wrapping up its deployment.

President Gitanas Nauseda thanked his U.S. counterpart, President Donald Trump, for sending the new rotation. The deployments began in 2019, and Lithuania has hosted rotational Army battalions of about 1,000 soldiers. Those deployments were called into question in May when the Pentagon announced a rebalancing of forces on the Continent. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal of up to 5,000 troops from Germany and canceled the positioning of a Fort Hood, Texas-based armored brigade in Poland. The battalion-sized element sent to Lithuania is typically drawn from the Poland-based brigade.